Ella reflects on her surreal experience post-birth. How she felt disconnected, almost like a visitor in the hospital, because her focus quickly shifted from recovering herself to caring for her baby, who was in critical condition. Discussing how difficult childbirth can be, Ella describes how her attention was consumed by her son’s health, causing her own recovery to feel secondary. This leaves her with a bittersweet memory of her experience….
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I’m Ella, and I have an 18-month-old boy. He was born on March 23rd at the Bradford Infirmary. Originally, I’d planned a home birth—it was something I really wanted—but I went 12 days over my due date and had to be induced in the end. That meant he was born in the hospital instead.
Even so, I was still able to have the birth I had hoped for in many ways. I gave birth in the birthing suite, not the main labour ward, which meant I could still have a water birth. That was really important to me, so I was genuinely happy with how it all turned out…read more