HB10. Birth Broke Me But I Put Myself Back Together: a story of traumatic birth, and maternal obsessive compulsive disorder.

In this episode I talk to Beth about the birth of her daughter Isla. We talk birth: long early labours, FINALLY getting the golden ticket into the hospital, epidurals, episiotomies and instrumentals. We talk birth trauma: the mind-bending double whammy of a postpartum haemorrhage + a baby admitted to special care.But the main thing we talk about is mental health. Beth is very candid about the difficulties she experienced postnatally, mainly birth trauma and maternal / perinatal OCD. She sought help very quickly and said yes to everything offered. Listen to this episode, because this isn’t something that happens to someone else; this happens to you, to Beth, to any one of us. But we can put our broken pieces back together, with the right support. Trigger warning: due to the subject matter, this episode may bring up difficult emotions for some listeners.  Laura Dockrill's book What Have I Done? is challenging, yet essential reading. As is her podcast Zombiemum. She is opening up the conversation around mental health, and some. You can have a general read of the spectrum of maternal mental health problems on the Mind website, which is also a great place to look for help and support. Likewise PND Awareness and Support (PANDAS).Read more about perinatal OCD here. Beth recommends reading Dropping Baby and Other Scary Thoughts if you are going through this yourself.If you (or your partner) are experiencing birth trauma give The Birth Trauma Association a visit and request a birth debrief at your hospital. If you need help, or you think someone else does, speak to someone. To a partner, relative, friend, GP, midwife, Health Visitor. In Waltham Forest you can self refer for talking therapies; see what services your council offers by visiting their website.If you're considering harming yourself or your baby go to A&E or call 999. You may think I am being dramatic, but I am not, and the staff there won't think so either. Find me on the web, on Instagram, on Facebook or contact me at [email protected]. Special thanks to Tom Herbert aka electrobeard for the music.