Category: Maternity Matters

Maternity Matters

Ways To Help You Deal with a Traumatic Birth

JayneLeave a comment

If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably aware of the fact that I started blogging after having a traumatic birth with Sausage, and wanted a place to express myself. I was in the midst of PND and PTSD and having a way to just chatter away about all the things in my head provided really good therapy for me. I was thinking today about ways that you can help yourself after having a traumatic birth, and I thought I’d share some of them with you today.

Find an Outlet

For me, it was writing, but for other people it might be exercise, dancing, singing, painting – anything that helps you to take a break from horrible thoughts and gives you a way to pour yourself into something else. I’m a bit of a bottler when it comes to talking about my feelings, but I find it comes much easier to me when I write.

Hold Someone Accountable

For us, it was really important to get some justice for what happened to Sausage, because we know it was due to negligence on the part of the hospital, so seeking compensation seemed like a logical step. Companies like Your Legal Friend can help you to seek compensation for brain injuries and it will usually never cost you a penny, regardless of whether you win or lose.

Find People who ‘Get It’

I was really lucky to find, through blogging, a whole load of people who had been through similar things and so could relate to how I was feeling. My friend Susanne and I even set up a blog called ‘Maternity Matters’ together, so that we could write about all things related to maternity issues in the hope of helping people like ourselves.

Get Some Professional Help

There is absolutely no shame in admitting that you need some help, whether that’s talking therapy or medication, and I highly recommend going to your GP to see if there’s anything they can offer. Often, trauma can stay with us for a long time if we don’t do something to work past it, and the last thing you want is it rearing its ugly head when you least expect it.

Have a Debrief

Most hospitals offer the opportunity to have a meeting with your midwife or consultant, who can go over your notes with you and explain exactly what went wrong and why, and I wish this was something I’d done. Having a professional explain things to you might just give you some clarity on the situation and give you a clue as to what you want to do next.

 

Baby · Family · Maternity · Maternity Matters · Mental Health · Parenting · Personal · Pregnancy

Maternity Matters Week 4 #maternitymatters

Jayne1 Comment

I can’t quite believe this is the fourth Maternity Matters linky already! We really hope you’re enjoying the process of sharing and reading so many great posts as much as we are. Seeing how pregnancy and birth experiences vary so much from person to person is as beautiful as it is informative and that uniqueness is exactly what’s at the core of Maternity Matters.

As usual, we’d love it if you displayed our badge, either on your individual posts or in your sidebar, and we’d also be grateful for anyone who isn’t already to follow the Maternity Matters Facebook and Twitter accounts.



MaternityMatters~ Mum's the Word
Baby · Family · labour · Maternity · Maternity Matters · Mental Health · Parenting · Personal

Maternity Matters Linky Week 3 – #MaternityMatters

JayneLeave a comment

One thing that Susanne and I set out to do when we started Maternity Matters was give parents a voice, regardless of how difficult the subject they’re talking about might seem, which is why in the past few years, Maternity Matters has covered topics such as birth trauma, SIDS, Post Natal Depression and PND. Pregnancy and labour can be incredibly beautiful experiences, but they can also be difficult and potentially traumatic, and we felt strongly that by collecting stories from a variety of experiences we might be able to help people who needed information, or those who simply needed to feel that they weren’t alone.

If we’ve managed to help or educate even ONE person since we started, then I think I speak for us both when I say that we feel we’ve accomplished something worthwhile. Writing about our experiences has been hugely cathartic for both myself and Susanne and encouraging others in the same way is a huge part of the Maternity Matters ethos.

So, in that vein, here’s the form for the third #MaternityMatters linky – we’d love you to link up any posts, old or new, positive or difficult, anything pregnancy, maternity, baby or health related that you’d like to share. As ever, we’d love you to comment on as many of the shared posts as possible and don’t forget to grab our badge!



MaternityMatters~ Mum's the Word
Baby · Birth · C-Section · cesarian · Family · Health · Maternity · Maternity Matters

#MaternityMatters – Week Two

JayneLeave a comment

It’s a fortnight since Susanne and I launched the Maternity Matters linky and we had some absolutely amazing posts linked up in that time. Reading about everyone’s experiences reminds us exactly why we started Maternity Matters in the first place and we hope that the linky will continue to be as popular in the coming weeks.

This week, I’ve linked the post that I wrote about my second c-section and how it was a healing experience, compared to the chaos and heartache of Sausage’s emergency c-section birth. I was terribly nervous all through my pregnancy at the thought of being awake through what amounts to some pretty major abdominal surgery and I even watched videos on YouTube of other people’s elective cesareans so I’d have an idea of what I could expect (control freak? Me?!). If you’ve got a fairly strong stomach, I’d actually recommend watching a few videos if you’re unsure of what to expect from a c-section as seeing it in action completely demystified the whole process for me and gave me a much better understanding of what would happen on the day.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s where you can link your posts this week, and don’t forget to grab our lovely badge to stick at the bottom of your posts so that your readers know where to find lots more great maternity-related writing.



MaternityMatters~ Mum's the Word
Maternity Matters

Maternity Matters Linky – Week One

Jayne14 Comments

So, here it is, the first ever #MaternityMatters link up and I couldn’t be more excited about it! Susanne and I cannot wait to read all of your posts and shared articles, as well as helping and supporting other parents along the way. We’d love you to go along and comment on as many other posts as you can, but remember that this is a place of love and kindness and try to let that show in your comments.

When you link up, please feel free to grab our badge and when you share your post, tag @jaynecrammond and @ghostwritermumm so that we can share your post far and wide.

The #MaternityMatters linky will run fortnightly and you are welcome to link up both new and old posts, and as many as you like. Each week we will pin all the posts onto relevant boards. Please also feel free to grab our lovely new badge and stick in on your posts so that anyone reading them can come along and find all of the others.

MaternityMatters~ Mum's the Word