A mother who suffered from post-natal depression after a forceps delivery left her with both physical and emotional scars has revealed how the trauma left her terrified of going through labour again.
Ashleigh, 26, from Lancashire, was filmed giving birth to her second son, Hughey, for tonight’s The Maternity Ward on 5Star, which follows expectant mothers at the Royal Preston Hospital.
The dance teacher explained in tonight’s premiere that she went through post-natal depression following the birth of her first son, Blakeley, two, after he required forceps to be born, which left her with several stitches.
To add to her trepidation, Ashleigh was told she had a 50 percent chance of experiencing post-natal depression again, especially if the birth was difficult.
In powerful scenes, an exhausted Ashleigh was filmed in one of the hospital’s birthing pools, begging the midwifes for an epidural, but it was too late and she had to work through the pain in order to deliver her baby.
Ashleigh, 26, from Lancashire, was filmed giving birth to her second son, Hughey, for tonight’s The Maternity Ward on 5Star, which follows expectant mothers at the Royal Preston Hospital. Pictured: Ashleigh with her second son Hughey
Ashleigh (pictured during delivery) went through intense amounts of pain in order to have a water birth without an epidural
Ashleigh had to go through several hours of contractions on a hospital bed, in order to become dilated enough for birth. Then, she moved on to the inflated pool in her room.
Once submerged in the water, Ashleigh’s baby was yet to pass through her birth canal, the most painful part of labour.
Delivery suite manager Emma, who accompanied Ashleigh through her birth, told the camera: ‘There’s a misconception that pushing is really easy, that it’s really quick, the baby just comes flying out. But it really isn’t like that.
‘Pushing is an incredible amount of effort and it’s really hard.’
Ashleigh’s partner Adam rushed in for a kiss after she’s delivered their second child and cried tears of relief
In tonight’s show, Ashleigh revealed her first son Blakely, two, had to be delivered with forceps, which left her with several stitches
In the suite, Emma did her best to give Ashleigh much-needed encouragement.
‘You’re amazing, you’ve crossed so any hurdles today, haven’t you,’ she said. ‘You’ve grown this baby, you can give birth to this baby.’
Eventually, with one last push, Ashleigh delivered Hughey, who reached the surface of the water as his crying mother welcomed him in her arms.
Ashleigh could be seen powering through the pain during her water birth in hospital, accompanied by her mother and husband Adam
After nine hours of labour, Ashleigh was able to hold her son Hughey for a well-earned cuddle
Ashleigh, who was exhausted after nine hours of labour, kept repeating, both to her birthing team, her husband, her mother and herself ‘I did it,’ while tears of relief and joy poured down her face.
In the days leading up to her second trip to the delivery room, Ashleigh, spoke about her difficult birth with her first son, Blakely.
‘He entered the world with forceps, so I ended up with quite a lot of stitches afterwards and I still find it quite traumatic,’ she said.
‘I probably didn’t realise for about six months after the birth that it affected me so much.
Adam teared up as he recalled how Ashleigh did not want to see their son during her battle with post-natal depression
‘I found myself a lot of times starring at nothing, not enjoying anything, I wanted to stay in bed.’
‘It felt at times like there was a wall between us,’ she said of her son, ‘I loved him, but I didn’t want to be with him. I felt he didn’t like me, and everything I did he just wanted to go to someone else,’ she explains.
‘So I booked myself into the doctor’s and she said straight away “I think you have post-natal depression”,’ she explained.
Her husband Adam, a warehouse worker, who lived with Ashleigh throughout the ordeal, couldn’t help but tear up as he recounted her darkest days.
‘She was, I mean it’s not nice to say, but she was getting angry. I felt like some days she was getting over stressed out by the littlest things,’ he explained.
‘And she felt bad in herself,’ he added, his voice cracking. ‘She shouldn’t have felt like that, ’cause it was towards Blakely.’
The Maternity Wars airs tonight at 9pm on 5Star.