As a practicing obstetrician who has delivered over 12,000 babies I take pride in achieving healthy pregnancies and healthy babies through a combination of very detailed medical and holistic care, compassion and guidance. The partnership forged between a patient and the doctor is essential to the success and joy of this shared special journey. Yet, the time between childbirth and the months postpartum are shockingly given minimal attention and result in often long term mental, physical and sexual challenges for new mothers. I myself suffered from severe post partum anxiety, and long term issues with pelvic floor dysfunction that transformed the way I now practice obstetrics so my patients don't have to endure similar challenges. The majority of my patients post partum experience post partum blues, anxiety, low libido, painful sex, struggles with fatigue, weight and body changes, pelvic floor changes including vaginal dryness, urgency, and even prolapse.
Through a carefully catered team of therapists, holistic remedies and supplements to improve hormone changes and depletion, nutrition plans, physical therapist they find relief in not navigating through the fourth trimester alone. I am so excited and honored to share my vision of helping each woman be cared for with compassion and blends science with a holistic approach to addressing the whole woman - mind, body and spirit.
During pregnancy, my patients are the most motivated group of women with respect to attention on their health. Immediately after birth, we all sadly put ourselves at the bottom of the list of self care and forget the importance or refueling ourselves- physically, emotionally, spiritually.
It is essential that thought leaders in maternal care continue the close attention given to women during the last few weeks of pregnancy, also post partum and beyond. The lens of how we view the importance of a healthy pregnancy and baby must be extended to healthy mothers.
In order to achieve this, we must focus on this joyous yet, vulnerable period in a women's life by addressing the enormous emotional, physiological, hormonal, social, sexual and economic changes women experience.
Author
Shamsah Amersi, MD
