Episode 19 | Amber

In this episode, Amber shares her experience of becoming a mum to her son, Joey.

She reflects on waking after his birth, which was an emergency caesarean birth under general anaesthetic, and meeting him for the first time hours later, the anxiety she experienced in the early weeks postpartum, and how her experience didn't match the expectations she had carried into motherhood. Amber also shares how comparing her birth to others impacted her ability to acknowledge that she had experienced birth trauma, and why processing those emotions through a birth debrief was such an important part of her healing.

We also discuss the importance of validating our own experiences, advocating for better support for parents who give birth under general anaesthetic, and the identity changes that accompany becoming a mother.

This is an honest and beautiful conversation about birth, postpartum anxiety, healing, self-compassion, and learning that two seemingly opposite emotions can exist at the same time.