It took being in labour for 54 hours for midwives to listen
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Trembling as I watched the woman on TV push her baby out, I quickly snatched the remote and switched over to another channel. I dashed to the bathroom to splash cold water over my face, but it didn’t help – within seconds, a flashback of my own birth hit me, and tears began streaming down my face.
![[Nilufer - birth trauma]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235150817-8c17-e1736162477876.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Even though it’s been seven years since my amazing son Milo was born, the trauma of the experience has never left me. Still, to this day, I can’t look at anything relating to childbirth. It’s why I wasn’t surprised when I read about the findings from the UK’s first parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma.
![[Nilufer Atik - My date apologised for his lateness, then his tooth fell out]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234835505-fc34-e1735911071701.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=645)
It stated that pregnant women recalled being treated like ‘slabs of meat’ and that there was a ‘shockingly poor quality’ of care in maternity services. That was certainly true in my case. I’d been so excited when I found out I was expecting back in 2016. I decided to do a hypnobirthing course to help me relax during labour, and planned to have a water birth.
![[Nilufer - birth trauma]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235150745-603d-e1736162413963.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=615)
But things didn’t go to plan. After spending 19 hours at home struggling with contractions, my partner and I drove to and from the hospital three times but kept getting sent home because I wasn’t dilated enough. By the fourth time, I was shaking, vomiting, and couldn’t walk. I was in so much pain and was sent up to the maternity ward.
![[Nilufer - birth trauma]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235150815-1f84-e1736162440494.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
