Liz from the Golden Hour podcast joins me in this episode to share her story! Liz has always been a planner, and spent a lot of time preparing for birth. She found a birth center attached to a hospital, and loved the welcoming atmosphere. She hired a doula, and felt confident that her birth would go well.
While Liz planned a lot for birth, she didn't plan as much for postpartum. She ended up hemorrhaging after birthing her son, and had to be transferred out of the birth center to the hospital. She had a retained placenta that had to be hand removed. Liz didn't recognize the trauma she experienced at the time.
Afterwards, Liz had a lot of anxiety. She was breastfeeding, and both she and her son were struggling. She started exclusively pumping, but needed to supplement with insurance. She put a lot of pressure on herself to breastfeed without stopping to think if it was worth the mental anguish.
Eventually Liz was diagnosed with postpartum anxiety. She was constantly worried that her son wasn't getting enough to eat, and hyper-focused about keeping him on a feeding schedule and herself on a pumping schedule. She stopped pumping and saw a counselor and began to feel more like herself again.
When Liz became pregnant with her second, she was more prepared for postpartum this time. Listen as Liz shares her story battling postpartum anxiety and what a relief it was when she was finally diagnosed.
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