Meg
Connection is key. Shame dies in safe places.
I'd spent my career as a NICU nurse and midwife educating families on postpartum care and supporting mothers through the baby blues.
Never did I imagine it would be me needing the extra support. When I subtly reached out, the response was: "You're a midwife, you'll be fine!" I was not fine. I cried for what felt like four weeks straight after my first baby was born. I convinced myself anyone would do a better job caring for him than me.
I suppressed my anxiety until my second child arrived — then returning to work sent me spiralling. I woke every morning with the same script: "I don't want to be here." It reached a point where, believing my family was better off without me, I drove to a local headland. What got me off the cliff that day was my little girl — she needed a mum. Hitting rock bottom became a new beginning.
Today I am the proud Maternity Manager of a private maternity unit, ensuring families are well cared for in the perinatal mental health space. Perinatal depression and anxiety is curable. This is the message that needs to be shouted.