Traumatic Birth

Consider getting a doula to support you.

I gave birth 2 weeks ago and had a c section experience that was a lot and unplanned also working through postpartum anxiety/ complications. I’m here if you want to talk & praying for you!

I’m so sorry you went through that and I want to say that it’s completely understandable. I had a pretty traumatic labor with my first baby as well. I was in labor with her for 14 hours She was stuck in the canal, I believe her shoulders were stuck and couldn’t go through the cervical bone I had. They had to vacuum her out. They used it 5 times where they only should have used it 2 and then do an emergency c section. I thought I was going to die. I asked for a c section but they just refused. They torn me up to assist and she finally came out but she didn’t make a sound. She has no color and was like a water balloon as my husband stated. She was so swollen in the face and the doctors had to rush her to NICU not in the hospital where I was in but down the city because she had a subgaleal hemorrhage. Then when they took my bloodwork they saw that I had preeclampsia so I had to stay in the hospital and get treated while my baby was miles away from me and I couldn’t see her for days.

Thank God we are good now, but yes it was a very traumatic experience and I honestly think God was there helping both of us through it. I was going to go to the NICU, but my husband for some reason told me to stay and if I didn’t stay I wouldn’t have done that blood test and known I had preeclampsia. As for my baby I think God had his protective shield on her the whole time, as this condition she had was extremely serious. He protected the both of us, I honestly believe that with my whole heart.

Were attempting baby number two and knowing what I went through with my daughter, I found that giving her a sister (God willing of course) is more important to me, and if anything was to happen, I know God will be there for me, as he always has. I think I’ve pushed the fear of something terrible happening aside and made something else a bigger priority to hold onto than the what ifs. Because what if it doesn’t happen and I spent all that time worrying myself? I’ve also put my faith and life in God hands which has given me comfort with the thought of possibly having baby number 2. Have faith in God. He is with you always. Things in life happen. Most of the time things like that don’t happen twice. But when they do he is always there to protect. The good thing is that since you have that history, the doctors will know and do things differently this time around to avoid what happened the first time. Have faith and pray to God knowing he will be with you on that day no matter what.

@Inna what you went through sounds even more scary than what I did. Because of what happened last time we switched doctors and hospitals for this delivery. My brain just literally is too scared to expect anything other than disaster.

Let your new doctors know about the experience you had last time, I’m sure they too can offer words of comfort. Give yourself grace, you persevered in a traumatic time and, thank the Lord both you and your baby are okay now. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.

Praying for deliverance from the anxiety. 🙏🏼 In case this would be helpful, there is also a method of therapy called EMDR that works specifically with retraining our brains on their emotional response to our traumatic events. Do some research on it and see if it might be a good fit for you. Then you could ask your counselor if they are trained in it, and if not, if they have any recommendations of somewhere you could find one. Or you can look one up on psychology today's website using the filter feature.

It's understandable to be gun shy when you had a really tough experience the first time. But it doesn't have to repeat. My 1st was a really awful experience and I was so scared with my 2nd, but I made it through so quickly without even a Tylenol that I almost gave birth in the car! Just breathe, pray, and put yourself in His hands.