Why I am so passionate about the health of new mothers
And boy, how I could have done with knowing then what I know now.
After finishing university, I decided quite quickly that I wanted to be a GP. I loved the opportunity to get to know my patients, understand their lives and see them through their ups and downs. My now husband and I moved to Devon in 2010, attracted by the outdoors and lifestyle we could have here. I completed my GP training and have spent the last 10 years practising as a GP.
My first son was born in 2018, via emergency caesarean section. Alarms and crash bells ringing, the room was full of people. I’d had a spinal anaesthetic so I was awake for the whole thing. He was whisked away to intensive care and I had a big haemorrhage. Thankfully he was fine, and although it took a few months I recovered physically. However the trauma from that day stuck around for much longer. I struggled to recognise what I was experiencing, and vivid memories of the day he was born overwhelmed any feelings of joy for my new son. I know now that I had birth trauma, a form of perinatal post-traumatic stress disorder, but it took a long time to figure out.
I returned to work when he was 10 months old. I struggled to speak to women who had had a caesarean section. A lovely GP I worked with would “swap” patients with…
