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24.01.2022 Did you know... Amniotic fluid is generated from maternal plasma and passes through the fetal membrane by osmotic and hydrostatic forces? Your baby’s kidneys start to function around the 16th week of pregnancy and his/her urine starts to contribute to the fluid as well. The fluid is made up of water, electrolytes, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, phospholipids and urea, which all aid in the development of your baby.... The amniotic fluid also serves to facilitate the exchange of nutrients, water, and biochemical products between you and your baby. The amniotic fluid keeps your baby at perfect temperature at all times and allows the baby movement for proper development of their limbs and bones. The fluid also serves as a cushion to protect the baby from jabs and blows from the outside world. Your baby’s breathing completely bypasses it’s lungs for the entire pregnancy. The amniotic fluid fills your baby’s lungs and keeps the sensitive linings moist in preparation to go from being aquatic to terrestrial. PhotoCred: @nataliaeidt.fotografia Repost @doulaviewllc

22.01.2022 This picture shouldn’t exist. I shouldn’t have thought that this would be the only time I’d ever get to touch my son. I shouldn’t have had to plead with my eyelids to open so that I could lay eyes on him before I missed the opportunity. The tears pooled in the corner of my eye, soaking the sheet beneath me should have been tears of joy, not tears of grief over barely living to meet the child I’d prayed for. I wasn’t dying. I was going into shock, but to me it felt like I was... floating away. It felt like I was dying. It’s hard to explain why those moments are so awful. I woke up, I’ve spent five years feeling my son’s warmth and laying eyes on his beautiful face. The ending is happy, right? No. Because the ending didn’t take place when I woke up and pieced together that I was alive. The ending was the moment this sweet bundle was taken from me and I stopped trying to stay alive. The ending was the moment that I made peace with the fact that a blurry eyed glance and weak embrace would have to be enough. Physically we can survive trauma, but most often the person we were doesn’t. Lungs may continue to fill and hearts may continue to beat, but identity and personhood cease. You might think that the worst part of trauma is the physical pain, but the truth is that it’s the emotions and thoughts that overtake us during trauma that linger and inflict lasting wounds. I think that’s why it’s so hard for outsiders to understand why we can’t get over it. To them it was a moment of pain, to us it’s inescapable torment. I didn’t think I could stomach details this week. I felt certain that it would do more harm than good, but I promised to tell my story so other birthers might stumble across it and tell theirs. I find peace in that possibility. The woman you see in this photo is in the midst of carrying out the bravest act of her life. Accepting that giving her child life, was worth her own. If you’re reading this post, chances are you see yourself in this picture too. I can’t tell you it’s going to get better or go away, but I can tell you that you’re strong. I can tell you that we’re going to be okay. SARAH @sarah_everly_ptsd

17.01.2022 #nobodytoldme that my traumatic birth would affect how I bonded with my daughter. I didn’t even know that I had given birth to a baby until 13 hours later. I was asleep for her birth, her first feed, and when I was hooked up to a pump for the first time. When I awoke at 3am after having her at 4:39pm the day before, I was notified that I had had a baby, and they placed her in my arms. She was so sweet! And so cute! And so cuddly! But she didn’t feel like mine. She felt like a... stranger. I am beyond thankful for modern medicine because without it, neither one of us would be here, but because of it, I missed out on my daughters birth. I STRONGLY believe my birth attributed to my #postpartumdepression. I remember the very first time I felt love for Ella - she was 8.5 weeks old. So, yeah. Nobody told me that my insanely hard birth would contribute to bonding issues and postpartum depression. Nobody told me that it was possible to NOT feel love for your own child. But here I am. It happened to me. And not only do I hate it for me, but it breaks me for Ella. I am so glad that season is behind us. ALY

16.01.2022 If you follow me, you know I talk A LOT about birth trauma and the physical injuries some people sustain in childbirth. You know, good dinner party conversation! Except it *should* be considered good dinner party conversation, or at least important dinner party conversation. There’s too much silence, shame and secrecy around the experience of birth, and it compounds trauma. According to the Australasian Birth Trauma Org (@birthtrauma.org.au), birth trauma affects 1 in 3 birth... parents. An estimated 10-20% of all first time birth parents may experience an irreversible birth injury. That’s between 15,000-30,000 birth parents EVERY YEAR. These injuries can range from prolapse to nerve damage to incontinence to complete pelvic floor avulsion (which is when the pelvic floor muscle tears away from the bone). It is frankly an OUTRAGE that this conversation isn’t being screamed across the country. My personal view is that we need a royal commission into birth trauma and obstetric harm, which isn’t to say that there aren’t incredible people delivering natal care all over the country. But there is a lot of failure too, and it results in traumatised birth parents who are left to just get on with things because all that matters is a healthy baby. I’ve signed up to the ABTA’s fundraising walk to raise funds for their essential peer-2-peer support service for new mothers experiencing birth injuries or birth trauma. ABTA gets very little federal funding (shocker!) and they rely on donations to keep going. They’re hoping to raise $50,000 this week to keep their work going. You can sponsor my page at the link in my bio and you can also sign up to join my team (team name: Big Sister Hotline). At my first MHCN appt 5 weeks after birth, I shared the impact birth had had on my pelvic floor. I was handed a brochure that said, 1 in 3 women wet themselves after birth. This level of response is unacceptable, and it needs to change. You may not have given birth, but you likely know a lot of people who have. One third of them have follow @clementine_ford

09.01.2022 When a person experiences birth trauma they often initially feel numb and shocked, they cannot comprehend what has just happened and may feel like it’s all been a dream. It may not have been the labour and birth they had planned for and having a Caesarian or a more medical delivery may be absolutely devastating. There may be sense of feeling unable to stop thinking about the events of the birth, in their mind but intrusive thoughts or flashbacks. Or whilst asleep have nightma...res and dreams. They may not be able to stop these thoughts and feel unable to focus or think about anything else replaying the events over and over again and sometimes feel they are physically back in the birth room. They may feel irritable and angry, or anxious and fearful: they cannot eat, sleep and may have lost their sex drive. They may be terrified that something bad will happen to their family or baby, feeling on edge all the time, hypervigilient and watching and scanning for new risks. These feelings can happen for a few weeks, months, or even years after #birthtrauma if left untreated. Is this you? Have you experienced #birthtrauma and have now been left with unresolved and overwhelming emotions? Get in touch today @birthtraumaresolution Beautiful art @amandagreavette

08.01.2022 Antidepressants. Happy pills. Smilers. Mummy's little helpers. They come in an abundance of names and have changed many a life but how do you feel antidepressants?... I am A HUGE advocate for meds. In the midst of a psychotic breakdown, when I was terrified of everything and everyone, when I thought I was floating to the sky and the walls were suffocating me, when I spent $100 on bags of potatoes and filled the garden with juice extraction, they cleared the fog so I could focus on recovery. For me, medication saved my life and I will be forever grateful. I didn’t think that taking medication would mean that I had failed myself and everyone else, but I know lots of people do. But really this was the only thing that helped me when I was initially ill. Meds freed me from the hysteria of hallucinations which almost resulted in me no longer being here and I will forever praise them for giving me the gift of my life back. Diamonds may be a nice present but for me, the best I ever had was becoming Eve again and learning not to be scared of my baby. Who cares if I had to shake , rattle and roll along the medication yellow brick road to get here? EVE

07.01.2022 Every time I see another happy pregnancy announcement, I wonder... but how long did it take? How long were you trying? How long were you longing for a baby before it even became a possibility? Or was it easy and painlessyou wanted it, and it simply just happened, right away? Or did you wait for months? Years? How many times did you resent the irresponsible, immature, self-centered people not fit to be parents who got pregnant without a thought? How many times were you late, ...thinking this month feels different, only to see blood in the bathroom, and feel that slam of disappointment? How many times did you wonder if something is wrong with you? How long did you want a baby before you even found the right person to conceive with? How long did you want that baby, but everything else in your life just wasn’t lining up? How well do you know the feeling of emptiness and yearning, of not being able to fulfil the thing you thought you were always meant to do, of seeing other people’s babies and wanting to hold them but you just couldn’t bear it? Did you ever have a miscarriage? Now that you’re pregnant again, do you worry that it won’t last? Do you worry every day, even still, that it can all suddenly change? Are you trying to prepare yourself, just in case, so you’ll be ready for that loss, of all those hopes and happy plans suddenly being ripped away? Just felt like bringing a bit of real life and real feelings on the topic of fertility and conceiving to this space that is so often picture-perfect. It can feel so abnormal and so lonely and so isolating to not have the babies you thought you would, by the time you thought you would, when so many others seem to get it so easily. Of course, most people simply don’t share the struggles and the waiting and the hoping and the tears that led up to it. They keep that part private. And that’s respectable but it certainly doesn’t do anything to help those who need to know they’re not alone. Who need to feel that sense of peace that comes in knowing they’re not the only ones. STACEY

07.01.2022 It may be that the birth itself was not traumatic but the events around the birth, such as your journey through pregnancy, the postnatal experience and feeding challenges that left you with feeling not yourself. You may have had infertility challenges, antenatal anxiety, bleeding or a complicated medical problem like high blood pressure, diabetes or sickness. You may have had a premature birth, a pregnancy loss or sustained a physical birth injury. #Birthtrauma can encompas...s so many different things. Essentially birth trauma relates to all psychological symptoms of trauma following birth and the circumstances around birth. And also the physical trauma and the impacts that birth trauma has left within the body. If you suspect you have symptoms of trauma please consider talking to someone - your GP, health visitor or mental health professional. Or you can DM me and we can talk some more Repost @aolanow

03.01.2022 BIRTH TRAUMA https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=600599787278808&ref=watch_permalink Maternal Mental Health Matters hosts a special panel discussion hosted by mother and maternity advocate Sally Cusack from Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond. ... Our panelists: * Professor Hannah Dahlen, Associate Dean, Research and Hdr * Debbie Gould from Birth Talk * Bashi Hazard, Human Rights in Childbirth Lawyer * Melanie Briggs & Cleone Wellington from the Waminda Indigenous Midwives * Dr Kirsten Small, BMedSc, MBBS, OB/GYN, specialist obstetrician gynaecologist * Dr Andrew Bissits, Director of Obstetrics, Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney * Dr Lauren Tober, BSc (Hons) DPsyc (Clinical) MAPS, Clinical Psychologist * Dr Erin Bowe, Clinical & Perinatal Psychologist and Coach This event is brought to you by Maternal Mental Health Matters Australia, a collaboration between four peak Australian nonprofit consumer advocacy groups: Safe Motherhood For All, Maternity Choices Australia, Maternity Consumer Network & PBB Media Produced by Annalee Atia, PBB Media

02.01.2022 I've been there. I'm still there. I know what it's like to be paralyzed with panic. I know what it's like to cry so hard and so long that your eyes will barely open. I know guilt. I know pain. I know despair. I also know that when your brain is sick, these feelings and states of existence can strike for (literally) no reason. You see, that's what a chemical imbalance will do. It creates physiological and emotional responses to things that aren't actually happening. It's... the symptoms of a medical disease, the same way diabetes can cause a hyperglycemic attack or high blood pressure can cause a stroke. There have been a couple of days over the years where I didn't want to stick around. I didn't want to stay in this life anymore. I was exhausted, I was depleted, and I wanted to give up. Fighting your own thoughts is tiring. I made small goals to just survive the next hour, and eventually; I climbed out of the hole. I've been called dramatic. Crazy. Lazy. I've had my diagnoses used against me in arguments. The years I spent avoiding medication felt like riding a bicycle uphill, then I spent years tweaking medications to ensure the best outcome. I've been to 5+ therapists over the last decade and I've had one stint in inpatient treatment. I've battled depression and anxiety for a long time and I know how dark and scary it gets. But, I have some messages for you. I'm not going to ask you to call a hotline, I'm just asking you to keep putting one foot in front of the other because it can be better; it WILL be better. KATIE

01.01.2022 I’m sitting in a quiet home with a moment to myself for what feels like the first time in forever. A magical tiny miraculous deep breath, a rare perfect gift for this moment of reflection. Here we are. 3 months. 3 months old. 3 months postpartum. Our 4th trimester coming to a close. I want to tear out my hair and wail. I want to leap for joy. I really just want to go to bed. We made it. This year-long journey is coming to a close. And yet our life together is just b...eginning. What a year. What a fucking year. I went to the depths and came back with this beautiful soul in my arms. It took everything. And yes she was worth it and more. But God was it painful. I broke down. I crumbled. I turned to ash and dust. I screamed and sobbed and gagged. Over and over. Repeat and repeat. And then I roared. And then I held her. My Thea. My Moon. My Beloved. Our Ancient Song. And now we dance together. A constant rhythm guiding me as she holds my hand. I falter. I lose myself over and over. She smiles at me knowing. She wails at me knowing. She curls against me. She thrashes away from me. I stumble and feel like a fool. I’m exhausted. I’m lonely. I’m never alone. I have no idea what I’m doing. I pause sometimes and can’t breathe because its all so beautiful. And so so hard. And then with deep breaths we find each other again and keep on dancing. What an honour Thea Moon to be able to share this dance with you. Blood, sweat, vomit, milk, tears, and all. Words: @maggieshackelford Repost: @hannahillphotography