Sus Davy | mother, C-section, NICU, panhypopituitarism, breastfeeding, postnatal depression, PTSD, antidepressants, running, sleep deprviation
Release Date: 01/30/2024
Pink Flamingo Podcast
Today on the podcast I am talking to Lucie, mother of two girls, Imani, 11 and Bibi, 4 & a cavalier king charles spaniel Cherry Pie who is 9 months old . Lucie is a Medical herbalist living in Glasgow and has specialised more recently in postpartum care and pediatric medicine. We talk about how non-negotiable and essential self care is in motherhood but how this doesn't happen overnight. 11 years into motherhood Lucie says it's still a work in progress for her but she has learnt that the more you look after yourself and tend to yourself, the better everything else will be. She also shares...
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In today's episode I am joined by my partner Harry as we share some of the highs and lows of our own postpartum journey. 🦩Our first year of parenthood revolved largely around my boobs...and not in a good way. We share a lot about my very painful breastfeeding journey and the endless quest to make it work including lactation consultants, health visitors, midwives, NHS feeding specialists, nipple shields, cranial osteopaths and tongue tie specialists, breast feeding from one breast & combi feeding with formula....it wasnt until about 9 months that I started to feel the pain subside after...
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In todays episode i chat with Tortie, my own doula and mother to Inigo, 14, Phoebe,11 and Zelda who is nearly 8 months old. Tortie speaks to having a baby whilst mothering adolescents and while she felt nervous about this age gap during her pregnancy, in has turned out to be the biggest blessing and something Tortie feels so grateful for. Emotionally it provided Tortie the time to reflect and learn from her previous experiences and provide a welcome sense of perspective and practically, the children were able to offer help, be independent and bring a grateful sense of energy, playfullnes and...
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Today I speak to Polly, mother of Eben who is nine months old, a yoga facilitator and facial therapist. Polly moved from living on a house boat in London to the Gower in Wales just before Eben was born. Polly loved being pregnant, she felt firmly in her power and was planning a homebirth. Sadly homebirthing wasnt an option at the time of her birth and she got trapped in the cascade of intervention in hospital and after a long labour ended up with an unplanned cesarean two days later. She experienced the scariest night of her life on the postnatal ward, alone, unable to move post Cesarean or...
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In today's episode I am talking to Emma about her postnatal journey with her son Oska who is 16 months old. Emma is single mother, a Medical Herbalist and currently living out in Bali. Emma had a homebirth with her Doula and best friend present and was looked after by friends and family in the first few weeks by dropping off lots of food to nourish her. She was physically forced to rest as she experienced a small prolapse and had heavy bleeding. As someone who normally finds it hard to stop, this enforced rest was really useful for her to fully embrace and surrender to the mess and chaos of...
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In today's episode I am joined by Laura, mother of Forrest who is 3.5 and Tanner who is 1. I just want to add a *TRIGGER WARNING* before i introduce her, as Laura shares a traumatic birth story during this episode around 21 minutes in. Laura shares her radically different births and postpartums first and second time around. Her first birth during covid was very traumatic and left her incredibly crushed, depleted and stressed which negatively affected her start to breastfeeding and left her too low to implement any boundaries to protect herself and her space. After a trip to hospital a week...
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In todays episode I had the joy of speaking with Catrin @mama_lleud, mother of 5 children and many animals all living nestled between the mountains and the sea in Eryri, North Wales. Catrin has raised her children at home, opting to home educate and somehow manages to also have been a birth worker since 2017 and now specialising in postpartum support and providing nutritious food boxes to local women in her community. I learnt so much from this conversation with Catrin as she shares the starkly different accounts of her first birth as a single young mum at 19 with a practically non existent...
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In todays episode I had the honour of chatting with my best friend Deya about the last 6 months of postpartum life with her son, my godson, Woody. Deya had a restful start to motherhood which she credits to her Doula who encouraged her to spend time thinking and preparing for postpartum when she was still pregnant and also reading the book The First Forty Days. As a very outdoorsy active person it was a real change of pace, but she managed to not leave her house for over a week and was fed by friends and family for about 3 weeks which enabled their new family of 3 to spend as much time...
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In todays episode I chatted with the lovely Sophia, a doula and mother to Elba, 9 and Wren, 7. Sophia experienced two very different postpartum with her daughters. As a young mum at 24 years old and the first of her friends to have a baby, she wanted to show the world and herself that this new chapter wouldn't drastically change her life but she quickly learnt that she was lying to herself and there comes a point where you are forced to surrender to it. Once she did surrender and accept this new self and stage she was so immersed in it and happier in her mothering....
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In todays episode I am speaking to Jessica about her mothering experience with her daughter River who is now nearly two. Jessica runs Mother Circle in Bristol, which came out of her own postpartum journey and the lonliness Jessica felt spending hours and hours alone with a baby at home each day, she missed the village, didnt understand what was happening to her and wanted a space to talk...and that is exactly what mother circle is- a landing pad for mothers to gather, learn and share their experiences as mothers – physically, sexually, emotionally, spiritually, and archetypally. We also...
info_outlineIn today's episode I am talking to Sus Davy about her postpartum experience with her son Rennan who is now 18 months. Sus had a planned C-Section and shortly after the birth, Ren terrifyingly stopped breathing and was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit where he spent 2 weeks being cared for and was diagnosed with a rare condition called panhypopituitarism. Sus had a really tough start to her breastfeeding journey, pumping for Ren while he was in NICU, syringe feeding and eventually getting him to latch with nipple shields. Despite months of struggle and two tongue tie seperations, they are still amazingly breastfeeding today.
After a really traumatic start to motherhood, once they had got Rens condition under control with medication they returned home and were looked after by Sus mum who is very helpfully a doula! After a few weeks it became clear that Sus was not ok and she was diagnosed with PTSD from the birth and post natal depression which she later took antidpressants for which made a really big difference for her. Alongside her own mental health Sus expereinced non stop crying from Ren for 6 months, deep sleep deprivation, wild hormones and a complete sensory overload and reflecting back on those early months she feels sad that this left little space to celebrate him and his arrival. It was her growing confidence as a mother that started to see the return of her pink alongside getting outside for runs and learning to put Rens condition to the side and just focus on him as person. She urges caution in consuming too much advice and information in those early months and trusting in the fact that everything really is a phase!
To find out more about Sus, her brilliant cafe Cascara in Bath and her motherhood journey follow @roughmeasures and @cascarabath