A mother of two has explained how she feared her baby would die every time she went to bed while battling depression and postpartum psychosis after the birth of her child.
Company owner Emily Whalley, 32, of High Peak, Derbyshire, suffered serious mental health problems after the birth of Arthur, now six, but was allowed to “continue her life” due to the insufficient medical support.
He suffered more trauma after the difficult birth of his young son Henry, now three years old, who was born with health problems.
Emily is now on the road to recovery and has recycled herself as a holistic sleep therapist to help other mothers.
She is speaking out in order to raise awareness on the issue of mothers ’mental health, saying it is not taken seriously enough.
Emily Whalley (pictured with her son Arthur), 32, of High Peak in Derbyshire, suffered from PTSD and postpartum psychosis after the birth of her eldest son Arthur.
Emily says that her husband Andrew (pictured right) helped her as she struggled with her mental health after the birth of her eldest son Arthur (on Andrew’s shoulder)
Business owner Emily became pregnant for the first time at age 24 and was “so excited” to be a mother.
She was preparing for childbirth by taking a hypnopartum course, but her plans were thrown into the air when her son, Arthur, was two weeks late and she was encouraged to induce childbirth.
“I really didn’t feel in control of the situation,” he recalled. “I also reacted badly to the medication.”
Emily added that Arthur ended up in a back position and tests revealed that there was meconium in the amniotic fluid, meaning there was excrement in his water.
Meconium in water can cause meconium aspiration syndrome in the newborn, making it difficult for him to breathe.
A blood test done while the baby was still inside the womb also revealed that he had incredibly low oxygen levels and was in distress.
Emily’s youngest son, Henry, was born with various health complications at just 31 weeks old, which was a terrifying time for his family.
Emily now runs the Fox and Moon project to support other parents struggling with their mental health as a result of their children’s unhealthy sleep patterns.
After 48 hours in the hospital, Emily was rushed to the operating room for an emergency cesarean section and baby Arthur was born.
“I was an early mom and I was very vulnerable. It was very traumatic,” Emily recalled.
What is postpartum psychosis
Postpartum psychosis is a serious mental illness that can cause new mothers to experience hallucinations and delusions.
It affects about one in two in every 1,000 births, according to Postpartum Support International.
PP is different from ‘baby blues’, which many mothers experience as they struggle to cope with the stress and hormonal changes involved in having children.
It is also different from postnatal depression, which affects to some extent one in 10 women. This can lead to feelings of helplessness as well as a loss of interest in the baby and crying frequently.
Symptoms of PP usually begin during the first two weeks. Some include:
- Manic mood
- Depression
- Loss of inhibitions
- Feeling of paranoia or fear
- Restlessness
- Confusion
- Act out of character
Its cause is unclear. It is believed that women are more at risk if they have:
- Family history of mental illness, especially PP
- Bipolar disorder or schizophrenia
- A traumatic birth or pregnancy
- The PP has suffered in the past
Ideally, patients should be placed in a specialized psychiatric unit, called a mother and baby unit (MBU), where they can still be with their child. They can be admitted to a general psychiatric ward until an MBU is available.
Antidepressants may be prescribed to relieve symptoms, as well as antipsychotics and mood stabilizers, such as lithium.
Psychological therapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), can help patients manage how they think and act.
In rare cases, electroconvulsive therapy can help with depression or severe mania.
Most women with PP recover completely if treated properly.
Severe symptoms usually last between two and 12 weeks. However, women can take a year or more to recover.
An episode of PP can be followed by a period of depression, anxiety and low confidence. Some women struggle to bond with their baby or feel lost.
Typically, these feelings can be overcome with the help of a mental health support team.
About half of women who have PP suffer from it again in future pregnancies. People at high risk should receive specialized care from a psychiatrist while they are waiting.
Source: NHS
“We were discharged after five days and during that time I had slept for about four hours. I was anxious and traumatized and was desperately trying to breastfeed, but I couldn’t.”
After about three days back home and with very little sleep, Emily began to hallucinate.
“I still felt like I had died if I left him or if I closed my eyes, so I wouldn’t fall asleep,” he continued.
Eventually, Arthur was diagnosed with a tie on his tongue that affected his ability to stick and feed, but the responses brought little relief to Emily, who was increasingly anxious. .
She was diagnosed with postnatal depression and prescribed antidepressants, but received no counseling.
“I went ahead and lived my life. I found hard parenting pieces and I was an anxious mother,” she said.
“I convinced myself that if I left my baby on the ground, he would die. Or if I closed my eyes, he would die.
“When my body finally fell asleep and I woke up, I was convinced I was dead and there was nothing anyone could tell me to convince me otherwise.”
Although Emily’s partner, Andrew, 36, and the rest of her family supported her as best they could, they did not understand how serious her condition was.
“Everyone around me was worried,” he recalled.
When Arthur came in and out of the hospital with asthma problems, Emily’s panic attacks got worse.
She was so scared that she decided not to have any more children because she didn’t think she would be able to cope.
Finally, when Arthur was three years old, Emily and Andrew decided to try to have another baby, and they were delighted when she got pregnant again.
He consulted a perinatal psychologist and was finally diagnosed with postpartum psychosis.
Emily received counseling while she was pregnant and devised a plan with specialists to protect her mental health for the second time.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan when Emily’s waters broke when she was 31 weeks pregnant.
“I woke up at 4 in the morning and my waters had broken,” he said. “At first I thought I was bleeding, so I turned on the light and went to the bathroom while the water was gushing.”
Andrew, who had just returned home from his night shift, picked up his wife and took her to the hospital, where he remained on “stop-start labor” for the following week.
“The pain was so severe that the doctors thought my gut was in spasm and they put a drip of magnesium sulfate on me,” Emily recalled.
Drip is intended to reduce the risk of the baby being born with cerebral palsy, but as Emily recalls, it was not a pleasant experience.
“It made me sweat and I couldn’t move,” he said.
As the contractions continued, Emily was unable to sleep, which put her at risk for psychosis once again.
Although Emily’s memory is blurred, she remembers a gynecologist coming into her room to check on her after hearing her cry in pain.
“I was dilated 10cm and the baby’s ass was crowned, so they took me to the theater for a cesarean section,” she said. “I remember that pressure in my throat from where they tried to intubate me. It was very scary.
When Emily woke up from the anesthesia, her baby Henry had given birth, but she arrived eight weeks earlier and had been taken to the NICU.
Henry (left) is now three years old and his older brother Arthur (right) is six
While baby Henry “navigated” during his early weeks in the neonatal unit, there were early indications that he was not well.
‘I was very refluxed and occasionally stopped breathing. I would have to rub her belly to get some air. They assured me it was common in premature babies, ”she said.
However, while he remained in the hospital, Henry was diagnosed with a bow on his tongue and a silent reflux.
He was also diagnosed with ichthyosis syndrome of prematurity, a skin disease that affects premature babies born around 30 weeks.
For Emily, who had already struggled with Arthur’s traumatic birth, Henry’s health conditions brought more worry and anxiety.
Henry (pictured as a newborn) was born with several health complications at 31 weeks
Henry had to spend the first few weeks of his life in the neonatal unit
In particular, he struggled with sleep training, and was afraid to stop it in case he stopped breathing.
“Henry stops breathing when stimulated, so I couldn’t let him scream, but I didn’t know what my options were,” he said.
After doing her own research, Emily began to learn more about sleep training and used different methods to help Henry drift out at night, which she says also helped her. own mental health.
Over time, Emily decided to qualify as a holistic sleep coach and now runs Fox and The Moon as a sleep consultant for parents with babies who have difficulty sleeping.
Since her children were born, Emily has been diagnosed with PTSD and OCD, but she says her work to help other parents has helped her in turn.
Henry, now three years old, was born with a skin condition that affects babies born around the age of 30 weeks called prematurity ichthyosis syndrome.
With the boys now six and three years old, he is still dealing with health issues in both, but he feels better equipped to handle it all.
“It has completely changed my life,” he said. “By understanding how I might have helped Henry then, I changed that knowledge to help other people.”
Although she is on the road to recovery, working with distressed parents has led Emily to believe that the new mothers are mentally …