Giving birth is never going to be the easiest task in the world. Sometimes, however, through nobody’s fault, it is made a lot tougher than it needs to be. Certain complications arise, and all of a sudden everything that could possibly go wrong, does go wrong.
Should you ever find yourself undergoing a tough labour, you should know that the aftermath of it is going to be just as difficult as the birth itself. If your labour was particularly traumatic, you will probably be still feeling the effects of it for a while after.
There are ways to cope with the memories, feelings, and ongoing problems that your tough labour leaves behind, though. To find out how you can move forward after such a life-altering event, be sure to read on.
Accept what has happened
Before you can begin to move forward and make plans for yours and your newborn’s future, you have to accept what has happened to you in the past. No matter how difficult it might be for you to do so, you have to come to terms with your reality and you have to get to grips with your new way of living.
You must accept that you have a problem before you can finally begin to accept your tough labour and the scars it has left you with. Doing this makes your situation real, and only when you make it real can you really begin to tackle it. If you experience any of the problems listed below, you should take them as a tell-tale sign that you are struggling:
- Flashbacks to the labour
- Terrified of going into labour again
- Considering yourself to be a massive failure
- Your self-esteem plummeting
- Being angry with yourself for doing/not doing certain things during your pregnancy and labour
- Shying away from the topic of child birth, even when asked about it by your midwife
- An inability to bond with your new son or daughter
- Being unable to speak about what you’ve been through with anyone
- A lack of desire to be physically intimate with your partner
Seek the right type of assistance
You aren’t going to be able to move forward after your tough labour by yourself. You’re going to need a number of different people by your side — on both a professional and personal level — supporting you every step of the way. Without such assistance, you’ll turn making a full recovery from your difficult birth into an all but impossible task.
The assistance that you seek can come in all shapes and sizes. It could come from a neighbour offering to cook you meals for the time being, for example. Or, if your tough labour was brought about by human error, medical malpractice or even ambulance delays, then the help that you seek should come from a birth injury attorney.
The point is, depending on what specific problems you face during the aftermath of your ordeal, you need to be seeking the type of assistance that is going to help you alleviate them.
Moving forward after enduring a tough labour might seem impossible, but it can be done if you put the advice laid about into practice.
