The Postpartum Season
Avsnitt

EP 27 | Lucia – Premature Birth, NICU, Infant Loss, Grief & Motherhood After Loss

The Postpartum Season
Dela

In this episode, Lucia shares the story of becoming a mother to Edmund, losing him after 40 days in NICU, and how his life profoundly shaped her experience of motherhood, grief and matrescence.

We discuss:

  • Lucia’s journey towards deciding she wanted to become a mother
  • Her waters breaking at 24 weeks
  • Spending two weeks in hospital on bed rest
  • The feelings of fear, sadness and that her body had failed her
  • Preparing for the possibility of an extremely premature baby
  • Becoming unwell at 26 weeks and Edmund’s emergency birth
  • Edmund being born at 26 weeks weighing 820 grams
  • Meeting and touching Edmund for the first time in NICU
  • Recovering from an emergency caesarean while wanting to spend every moment with her baby
  • The infection that contributed to Lucia becoming unwell
  • Struggling physically and emotionally during the early postpartum period
  • Asking for mental health support and being taken seriously by the hospital team
  • Pumping milk for Edmund while he was in NICU
  • Seeking further support through her GP and eventually a perinatal psychologist
  • The extraordinary support Lucia and David received from the NICU team
  • The emotional uncertainty of having a critically unwell premature baby
  • Edmund’s 40 days in NICU
  • Discovering a congenital abnormality affecting Edmund’s lung
  • Making the devastating decision to move Edmund into palliative care
  • Spending precious time together as a family before saying goodbye
  • Holding Edmund as he took his final breath
  • Creating memories after his death, including bathing, dressing and photographing him
  • The importance of photographs and memories during grief
  • Lucia and David experiencing grief in very different ways
  • Learning to respect a partner’s individual way of grieving
  • The role of perinatal psychological support after infant loss
  • Leaving hospital without your baby and navigating postpartum after loss
  • The grief of no longer returning to NICU every day
  • Lucia’s experience of matrescence
  • The difficult experience with Lucia's workplace and maternity leave after Edmund died
  • How motherhood and loss changed Lucia’s relationship with her career
  • Learning that it was okay to say Edmund’s name and talk about him
  • Finding meaningful ways to honour and remember Edmund
  • Creating a children’s book about Edmund for his cousins
  • Fundraising to support families experiencing NICU
  • The annual workout held in Edmund’s memory
  • Deciding when to try for another baby after loss
  • Welcoming Alfie and later Watson
  • How Lucia’s first postpartum experience shaped her subsequent postpartum seasons
  • Parenting with a greater awareness of how precious and short life can be
  • Lucia’s message to her former self to run your own race, look after yourself and be kind to yourself

This weeks sponsor is Rest in the Postpartum Season - guided yoga nidra practices created for mothers. 

If you’re looking for a simple way to slow down, rest and take a little time for yourself, you can find practices ranging from five to fifteen minutes at www.thepostpartumseason.com.

And if you would like to buy a Postpartum Season cap, click this link below:

https://www.thepostpartumseason.com/store/p/the-postpartum-season-cap

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

As mentioned in the episode, here are some postpartum support resources. Please reach out if you need help.

Australia

 

New Zealand

  • PlunketLine
    0800 933 922 (24/7)
  • Healthline New Zealand
    0800 611 116 (24/7)
  • 1737 Need to talk?
    Call or text 1737 (24/7)

 

Thank you for listening. Take care x

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