91 | When A Mother's Pain Re-Births Her Calling - Natalie Nicole

Natalie Nicole joined us to share the birth story of her rainbow baby. After experiencing a miscarriage on New Year’s day of 2014, she was terrified of being pregnant again. So that June, when she found out she was pregnant, she was fearful about the same outcome. But in January 2015, her son was born, and answering her prayers and showing her strength.

Natalie entered this pregnancy, being concerned about what happened to cause her miscarriage. She nervously started sharing her news as her family and friends expressed their excitement. She experienced the typical symptoms of pregnancy, but the pregnancy was without challenges. Natalie wanted to take it one day at a time with minimal planning.

During her 38 week appointment with her doctor, she had a cervical exam and learned, to her surprise, that she was nearly 10 cm dilated. She had labored over the weekend after she lost her mucus plug. She didn’t experience intense contractions over the weekend but had challenges sleeping. Things moved quickly to get her settled in the delivery room. Natalie still had her bag of waters intact, and she received a pitocin drip as recommended by her provider to speed up labor. After laboring with pitocin, Natalie knew she wanted additional support by way of an epidural. Reflecting on her birth and the speed of it, Natalie found herself wishing she had more of a plan. She was receiving medication; she couldn’t recall why she was taking it or what it was called. Her family arrived in full force, and she began to feel uncomfortable as the room was crowded and overwhelming, which deterred her focus and ability from being calm. Her birth space had made what could have been a smoother process complicated by the use of forceps, suctioning, and an episiotomy.

Natalie’s body had carried her child to term, she had naturally labored at home, and once she shifted her environment and mindset so swiftly, her ideal of a calm birth had started to slip through her hands.

One week into postpartum, Natalie found herself feeling depressed. She had limited support at home as her partner had to work, and her mother had been with her for the first week. Intrusive thoughts and breastfeeding challenges led to a lack of sleep and anxiety. She became suicidal and sought help. Natalie shared her feelings and thoughts with her partner and family. She began using antidepressants, but it wasn’t enough as the anxiety and highs and lows continued. Natalie was admitted to a mental health facility to protect herself. Listen on as Natalie shares her harrowing journey through postpartum depression, anxiety and how she was open to not just therapy but medication and continued support.

Resources:

Shades of Blue | breaking cultural barriers in Maternal Mental Health Globally

Postpartum Support International | provide current information, resources, education, advocate for further research and legislation to support perinatal mental health

Mindfully Well Rooted | mental health and lifestyle blog

Sponsors:

March of Dimes | education, research, support & advocacy for moms and babies

March of Dimes, the leading nonprofit fighting for the health of all moms and babies, is observing World Defects Day on March 3rd. This is an annual event in which March of Dimes partners with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) to generate awareness among women of childbearing age and families about actions they can take to help prevent birth defects. Join the conversation about World Defects Day by following hashtag #Best4YouBest4Baby on social media and by visiting March of Dimes at marchofdimes.org/BSiC.