Psychological Care In C-Section Recovery
We commonly concentrate a lot on the physical parts of recovering from a c-section, this piece will look at at the emotional aspects of c-section recovery .
It is not unconventional for some women to feel emotional grief after a cesarean section, whether they had intended or needed to have a cesarean section birth or because their labor ended up as an emergency cesarean section. In fact it isn’t out of the ordinary for mothers who delivered vaginally to experience postpartum depression, so we shouldn’t be perplexed that cesarean section mums need emotional care and support.
Quite usually in the case of moms who intended vaginal delivery but ended up with a c-section, we hear that the most important thing is the baby and mom are wholesome. While this is if course true it doesn’t serve as a cure all for all the mental responses to the experience that a mom may have.
The truth is that as a culture, we are not so comfortable with emotions. More and more the approach to uncomfortable emotions is to drug them away. It’s possible part of this is to do with the patriarchal misunderstanding that feelings are feminine and consequently inferior … I don’t know.
We all have to appreciate that emotional distress is normal, childbirth is a monumental event, and mothers need their feelings in relationship to it to be respected. All women need support and understanding after giving birth, in particular when it didn’t go the way they had assumed.
Because of the largely cold and patient disempowering nature of our health care system and consequently the process of cesarean delivery, no end of women experience a degree of disconnection from the actual delivery. It’s not hard to comprehend when their feet and calfs are held down so they can’t move and a drape stops them from seeing anything that’s transpiring!
Add to this the fact that commonly the newborn is immediately taken away from them while they lie helpless having the cut closed up and it’s not too difficult to recognize there will be some pretty mixed emotions about it all. This reaction is even more heightened when a woman was planning and hoping for a vaginal birth and even more so if it was to be a home birth.
The feelings of anger, betrayal, hurt, disappointment, shame, need space to be felt, recognized and named. Holding such feelings inside ourselves brings on depression through inner conversations of self recrimination and impotence.
It’s critical to talk through your emotions to another person you trust or even an experienced counselor. Say what you were feeling and experiencing throughout the delivery procedure, so that you can bring out any detrimental feelings you may have. Oftentimes we aren’t even definite on what we are feeling until we begin to discuss it.
Do not be uncomfortable at experiencing these feelings after c-section, and ask the one you speak to to merely pay attention, or even better yet to do reflective listening where they let you know that you have been heard by mirroring back to you what you have said with awareness and empathy.
It’s also relevant to give yourself time, in the time of pregnancy and post giving birth your body is inundated with hormones which can heighten feelings and feelings. Remind yourself regularly that it’s typical to have feelings and discover ways to engage in self care. A good way to do this is the time you devote every single day holding your newborn and connecting with them. Let the love you feel when you gaze into your new born’s eyes saturate your complete body.
There is room for both the gratitude for a wholesome newborn, the love you feel for them, and any other emotions you may experience from the birth. They are all aspect of life an they all have their place.
