This is so terrifying to read!Thank you for sharing your story though. I am so sorry you had to go through this…

I am so glad to hear this! Thank you for sharing your story!

I was told giving birth would cure the preeclamsia and as soon as that baby was out, it was like MY care totally stopped. I spent the next 24 hours in the postpartum ward literally dying. So many things were going wrong from low blood pressure to blood transfusions not working to no urine output and eventually liver and kidney failure. It took SO LONG for them to get me to the ICU at another hospital. And they KNEW I had been there and really sick for 2 months. I probably owe my life to one nurse that insisted I be transferred. It was my first baby so I had no clue what was normal.I even demanded to call one of my OBs on call and remind her that she promised me I wouldn’t die from preeclampsia. She was performing surgery on me hours later to save my life.

When I got back to the women’s hospital after 3 days in the ICU it was like I was in some kind of boot camp to be ok. I had had 2 abdominal surgeries, countless blood transfusions, and hadn’t been allowed to walk for 4 months between home and hospital bedrest. All of the sudden they expected me to be up and walking to the NICU constantly. The NICU doctor made me feel like a drug addict bc my baby was withdrawing from the anxiety meds I was prescribed in that hospital when I was there for 2 months. I was told my child couldn’t have my milk if I didn’t discontinue all pain and anxiety medications immediately.

Thank you for sharing this. You feel like you’re the only one when you aren’t home and healthy a day after giving birth. It’s so taboo I late found out some close friends that also had traumatic births and recovery that never said a word. It’s like you’re expected to put on lipstick and take a perfect family photo and not talk about anything truly scary. But it helps so much to know you aren’t alone in these situations. And it helps for women to know signs to look for and to demand that American hospitals make some serious changes to make sure mamas get to go home and be healthy! A healthy mom is what helps a baby!

👆🏻 This comment resonates! With my first I was discharged 48 hours after an emergency c-section. I was in terrible pain and so so exhausted but both my doctor and the nurses said there was no reason to stay because I was “doing so well.” I’ll never forget that first night home because our son literally did not sleep, breastfeeding was going terribly, and it hurt to move. With my second we had a new doctor/hospital and were such better advocates for me as the patient. We spent three nights, sent the baby to nursery, and I actually felt relatively little pain when we went home. I still ended up re-admitted for postpartum preeclampsia…but it was probably only caught because we insisted on staying in the hospital as long as we did. I had all the same swelling and headaches with my first but they were dismissed as normal and no one ever checked my blood pressure. Oh and I’m married to a doctor for goodness sakes so I probably have more medical support than most. Hospitals have to do better when it comes to taking care of new moms. And sadly, I think the statistics for complications are especially poor for minorities and people from lower income homes.

I agree with so so much mentioned above! At our hospital they practice skin to skin after the baby is born. As much as I love my baby that’s one thing I don’t want to do for an hour after giving birth without any meds. I’m in so much pain all I want to know if she’s fine and meds for pain. Yes you’re right so many things have changed. With our oldest the nursery was not available anymore. But I was not getting much sleep because the baby was not latching on and was not eating. It was do difficult for me to get the hang of it and I felt like such a failure. My husband spent the night with us and was tired as well. On that shift that night the sweet nurses must of noticed our tired zombie faces and offered to take her with them to the desk while we slept the night and offered to feed her a bottle of formula. We were so thankful and told them how much we appreciated them the next day! BTW I’ve gone through post partum depression with my last 2 babies. I have 7 in total and with my past doctor I was never asked or given a survey on depression. With my new doctor he asked right away and informed me of all the signs. Now that I look back I can honestly say I went through it with each one but had no idea what I was going though. I agree, if you feel something is not right speak up please!! Thank you so much for giving us a platform to speak about our experiences and for giving us a voice!!