Lizzie’s story
After a traumatic first birth with a 3b tear and operation I was petrified of giving birth again. I opted for an elective c section to try and get more control. My elective c section went badly wrong. I was looking round at the faces of the medical staff and they looked shocked. My son was delivered and then chaos took over. Staff shouting, arguing, running and panicking. I heard someone behind me say the words ‘She is young and fit – she should make it’. No one was explaining to me what was going on. I had a massive haemorrhage and nearly died.
When I left hospital I felt so much pain around my c section scar but was shrugged off as an anxious hormonal mum. I ended up 4 weeks post c-section in maternity triage in severe pain, barely able to walk with a temperature and delirious. The staff mixed up my blood and urine test with another woman and sent me home with antibiotics despite my protests. The next morning I was so unwell I thought I was going to die. I returned to hospital and was admitted with sepsis on the verge of septic shock. They found a mass 8 x 4 x 3cm of infected blood and tissue between my bladder and uterus left over from my c-section. I was hospitalised with my newborn baby leaving my oldest son at home and found the entire experience terrifying as I had no trust in the staff and that they could help me.
I was since diagnosed with PTSD and struggled to bond with my second child. I feel like I am in mourning for those first few months lost to recovery from sepsis and blood loss.
