A recent survey found that 9 percent of new mothers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and Strollerderby has an emotional post today on the issue. The writer links to a Salon piece on PTSD, written by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, and shares her own story:
My difficult experience with my daughter’s birth was nothing compared to what Brodesser-Akner endured - it took six hours from the time my water broke to the moment I was handed my beautiful, blessedly healthy little girl in an operating room, and the medical professionals who attended me through the birth were almost uniformly professional and kind. But I shared her experience of lying hopelessly in a hospital bed, feeling as terrified and powerless as I’d ever felt while my daughter’s heartbeat pinged down slowly to nearly nothing, feeling “Oh my God, after everything we’ve been through, after finally getting here, we’re going to lose her.”
Both blog entries are worth a read (tip: have tissues nearby), as is this recent New York Times article on PTSD experienced by parents of very sick babies. And for additional reading, a child psychiatrist with Stanford and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital discussed his PTSD research in this Q&A.
Photo by artfulblogger
