How we gave birth was not okay
Unlock some 2020 childbirth pandemic trauma with me
Humans are remarkably adaptable. We’ve evolved to be so to safeguard our survival. It works well for us, most of the time, but I’d argue there’s a downside to how deftly we can acclimate to change: we don’t give ourselves much chance to process it. And when we don’t process things, or we diminish big changes down to simply being part of life, we might find ourselves dealing with long term emotional roadblocks or what you might describe as trauma.
Part of our adaptability is how quickly we can forget difficult things and Covid is the perfect example. We lived through such a strange, unnatural and disconcerting time in history in which every single person’s life was affected. We barely saw other people, save for waving to a neighbour from across the street or enduring yet another group quiz over Zoom (where you’d have to get really creative on your excuse to log off when the conversation dries up). We lived behind masks and we lived in fear - be it conscious or not - of the very legitimate threat that existed right outside our front door. Lockdowns went on for far longer than anyone would have been mentally prepared for and yet all I see now of the global pandemic is a joke about we lost a few years there and how, for most of us ,our concept of ‘last year’ means 2019. We got over it really quickly, reducing it down to a bizarre collective nightmare in our rear view mirror, a moment in time that was considered across the board to be, well, shit. But we’re done now.
It had to have affected us, and maybe we don’t have the data yet on precisely how, but surely humans - social by nature - can’t be left alone for that long and not have their mental health negatively impacted? Certainly when it comes to giving birth.
I was one of many, many people to be pregnant during the pandemic and then give birth during the height of the Irish lockdown. And as you know, I didn’t have the greatest postpartum experience. For the longest time I’ve blamed myself for that.