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Cesarean And Depression

10 posts on this thread and the last post was on April 27th, 2005 4:55 AM
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Lynn - January 26th, 2005 11:14 PM
[Original Post]

Has anyone experienced severe postpartum depression and trouble bonding with baby after a cesarean birth? Is this more common with c-sections than with natural births?


Jodie Vagedes - January 28th, 2005 3:38 PM

I don't know but I feel like I'm in the same boat as you. I guess it's nice to know that were not alone. jodiew_02@hotmail.com


becky - February 2nd, 2005 9:06 PM

Hello, I was worried about the same thing especially since my daughter was taken immediately after delivery to the OR and then to the NICU (I didn't even see her until 4 hours after she was born!) Now she's 4 months old, and has been home for 2 months, and I feel like I bonded with her just fine!


Andrea - February 4th, 2005 10:00 PM

I feel the same way! Thank God someone understands. It's almost like no one talks about it. I can barely watch a woman give birth on tv because I feel like a failure, the Dr.'s cheated me or I got the epidural to early. Now, I don't feel that I can't bond because I love my baby girl to freakin' pieces, but I do feel that I definitely missed out yes.



Lena - February 9th, 2005 9:06 PM

I bonded with daughter, but I have heard of experiences such as yours. I did experience the PPD, I think. For days, I felt robbed (of the experience of pushing), and pondered the "what if's"..."what if I would have walked more..what if I didn't take that darn epidural...what if I would have done this or that...". Now I dream of a VBAC the next time I have a baby. We can't continue to beat ourselves up over it like this, because surely we'll go insane" :-). Easier said than done...


Christina - March 1st, 2005 11:51 PM

I felt totally ticked off when the doctor told me I would need a C-section. My daughter was breech at an earlier ultrasound and the stupid doctor didn't do another one until I was in the hospital ready to be induced. He could have tried to flip her but didn't. I feel that there could have been a big chance of me having a vaginal birth!! But instead I had to have a c-section. I never got to feel even one contraction! But that is why I hope to get pregnant again soon and I will definately go to a different doctor, and hopefully have a vbac! And hang in there to all of you who feel depressed still. It will eventually go away--with or without medical treatment.


ines - March 2nd, 2005 4:48 PM

I´ve had 4 C/sections and I did always have in mind that the best procedure is the safer one for the baby, this is not about mothers EGO, curiosity or doctors stupidity, remember that chilbirthing is about giving birth to a baby in the best conditions, this is not about mothers.!!! or inmature mothers!!!!


J - March 3rd, 2005 12:35 AM

I was depressed after my c-section. First, I didn't get to see my daughter for 24 hours after she was born. She was in NICU and they wouldn't let me out of bed until my blood pressure went down. Then, I was discharged from the hospital but she had to stay. I wanted to breastfeed, so I was trying to express milk and then take it to her. It didn't work, and then when she came home and we had given up on breastfeeding, I was leaking milk everywhere. I was so depressed that I kept packing a backpack and walking down the street, away from my husband and baby. Looking back, I wish I had talked to my doctor about my depression. I'm sure there's something they could have done, and I would have been less miserable those first couple of months.



etta - March 14th, 2005 10:12 AM

yes,
I don't think I really fully recovered and it has been 14 years. It could be that I was 38 and then kicked into perimenopause at 44.


B - April 4th, 2005 1:16 PM

I lost my first baby to an ectopic pregnancy that dangerously ruptured and caused internal damage. I was ELATED when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with placenta previa and was forced to have a c-section. My daughter is a miracle, my most precious gift, but I sadly found it difficult to bond with her at first because part of the natural process was taken away. I felt resentment for the way she was "taken out of me" instead of "birthed." I don't feel it is a matter of ego or immaturity, I think some people may be more sensitive about this connection. Make sure your feelings get validated by continuing to talk about it and remember that the alternative could have been much worse; I remind myself that we both would have died had it not been for the efforts of modern medicine.


Anna - April 27th, 2005 4:55 AM

I was forced to have C-section at 31 weeks and I had complications after C-section and a baby was born with complications.
I am thinking of suing the doctor now as I was misdiagnosed and my placenta was perfectly normal. As a result I don't have any bond with a baby (I did not see the baby for 2 weeks). I feel awful and depressed