Postpartum

There is no appointment that instills a more intense mix of feelings than the birth of your baby. Nine months of waiting, childbirth (which is one of the most complex moments a woman can experience), and the face-to-face encounter with that little person you've dreamed of so many times and who is now finally in your arms. , is the prelude to an unforgettable period of time, due to the amount of emotions that it brings behind it.

Today, for the first time in my life, I have felt identified with a model. Perhaps saying it like that sounds a bit pretentious on my part, but I have realized that giving birth leaves us in equal circumstances to (almost) all women. I'm talking about Marisa Jara, the Sevillian model who has recently become a mother and who is leaving some beautiful snapshots on her Instagram account, including this one that I want to show you.

A few years ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a guide with 56 recommendations and suggestions for a positive childbirth experience, whose objective was to establish global standards of care for pregnant women and reduce the number of unnecessary medical interventions .

To many (myself included), motherhood comes like a bucket of ice water when what you expect is a warm and quiet bath. That cube may be a different color, but I would say the feeling is the same. The true postpartum is a taboo that has been talked about until now, and the manifestations of that overwhelming reality bath can be so diverse, that there could be as many as there are women in the world. One of them is that of women who do not dare to leave the house with their newborn babies, a phenomenon that is rarely talked about, but which is more common than we think.

The fear begins to appear when the doctor releases you from the hospital. I remember it like it was yesterday: I only managed to answer with a "already?", because after three days in the hospital, surrounded by doctors, nurses and where I felt safe, the moment of truth was approaching: seeing me with my husband, with no family to support us, scarred from a C-section, and a premature baby at home. Were we prepared? No! Nobody ever is!

Breast engorgement is a frequent condition in the days after childbirth, which causes tension and pain in the breasts of the new mother. That is not strange. What is rare is the case of Linda Jones, a 39-year-old mother of six, who has just given birth to triplets and has gone viral on Tik Tok by showing a rather strange breast engorgement in her armpits.

All maternity wards were affected by the pandemic in one way or another, from mothers who work outside the home to those who stayed at home with their children, due to social distancing measures to reduce, prevent and avoid contagion and spread of the coronavirus.

There is no doubt that the pandemic has affected us all. But when it comes to new mothers especially, studies have found that postpartum mental health problems increased during this period.