Following childbirth, dad’s mental health (and other partners) is important too. Many dads suffer PTSD following the birth of their baby. Spend 11 minutes listening to this father’s story, from being a young lad and hear him as he talks about his own mental health, before and following the birth of his child born by “emergency” caesarean. What support do you think is needed? This is my opinion below.
Apart from more discussion about mental health generally, I am relating this to maternity/paternity areas of life. I think there needs to be more education, more awareness and preparation for birth for mothers, fathers/partners, including education on all possible scenarios of birth. We need to be educating children from an early age about labour, birth and parenting, from at least primary school and this should be taught continually and make it part of the National Curriculum in schools.
Hypnobirthing, holistic birth preparation, relaxation and mindfulness programmes etc need to be more accessible to those who maybe can’t afford it privately. NHS – PLEASE TAKE NOTE! ( I know that some are but not all). I really wish I didn’t need to be teaching Hypnobirthing to so many couples. It is almost like a “necessary evil” in today’s medical model of birth and with so much birth trauma reported 😔.
More support is needed for mothers, fathers, partners following traumatic birth which has been reported as nearly 1:3 mothers. Often dads/partners suppress their feelings regarding traumatic birth or PTSD, which often arises as fears and anxieties in subsequent pregnancies and births. Sadly I see too many of these situations when teaching Hypnobirthing. I see lots of couples who want a more positive birth and they often say that they want to be more “in control” of their birth experience this time around or they want it to be totally different from last time.
Preparing dads/birth partners as much as is possible, for their role in the experience is essential, (usually as advocate for their woman) giving them some relaxation techniques, educating them on anatomy and physiology/hormones, informing them of their choices, sharing knowledge, as knowledge is power, especially in maternity.
There needs to be much more education on nutrition, yes I said NUTRITION, especially MINERALS, most people are depleted, even with what they think is an excellent diet. Certain minerals have a dramatic impact in mental health, I see it on Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) results. People are often diagnosed with mental health issues when they may be severely depleted of essential nutrients, especially magnesium, potassium, natural lithium and zinc (amongst other imbalances and deficiencies), but please NEVER SUPPLEMENT BLINDLY until you know your own individual biochemical profile. “Minerals are the spark plugs of life” quote by Henry A Schroeder M.D, Ph. D – 5th Element Wellness.
Counselling and mind therapies can be hugely beneficial but in addition to this, if we don’t address the fundamental nutritional needs at a cellular level, then we may be missing a massive part in the jigsaw. I also use mind therapies with clients, be it hypnobirthing, traumatic birth rewind techniques or self hypnosis to enhance fertility.
When we are stressed we burn up our minerals by the second! Being in the fight/flight state and especially longer term in this state, we can wipe out many of our minerals, having negative effects on our energy levels, stress ratio, hormones, blood sugar, infection status, adrenal and thyroid state, as well as out mental health . Many women/partners are entering the pre conception period nutritionally depleted (many will not conceive at all or may miscarry if they do conceive) and many may suffer anxiety or other mental health issues. Women are often nutritionally depleted and stressed in pregnancy and labour/birth, and sadly their babies are being born depleted too. So although the dads have not physically given birth, the mental and emotional effects on them cannot be underestimated.
Add in more stress, we lose more minerals, add in a long labour, add in traumatic birth experience, add in lack of sleep, add in parenthood, etc etc and it becomes a snowball effect, which for many, can exacerbate nutritional deficiencies and present with issues of mental, physical and emotional health concerns.
About 25 years ago, many people had not heard of doulas
About 5-10 years ago many people had not heard of hypnobirthing
Currently many people have not heard of HTMA and the importance of minerals… but watch this space if you want to learn more about HTMA/Minerals.