Hormones after section vs vaginal

Personally I would say yes, I had my first vaginally May of 2023 and I was “high on life” with her for months after birth before any symptoms of PPD kicked in but I now have a 3 week old born via emergency c-section and I’m already starting to feel this overwhelming sadness and a few other symptoms of PPD. Everyone is different though, but this has been my experience so far.

@Courtney I am sorry to hear that, I hope you feel a lot better soon and have support 🩷

I’ve only had my one c section, but I definitely felt strong emotions after my baby was born!! Seeing her for the first time was the most beautiful thing. I can’t imagine the hormone release is the same, but I did feel amazing!! Of note, the meds during a c section can make you feel not great. I was vomiting for like 8 hours after and was itchy as heck. Milk also takes longer to come, which can make you feel a bit deflated. But overall, it felt so wonderful and over a week later, I still feel a bit on a high!

I’ve also only had a section 5 months ago and I agree with both comments above. After my section and after the drugs had worn off my hormones were all over. My body just didn’t know what to do and it didn’t know how to process what had happened - honestly neither did I. I had laboured for over 10 hours and then ended up with a section and like Courtney for months afterwards PPD symptoms crept in. However like Claire I was instantly connected to him when he arrived, I couldn’t stop crying and I didn’t for weeks afterwards. Harder though as you don’t get immediate skin to skin and that’s what I struggled with. It felt like forever laying there waiting for him to come over and that probably didn’t help my hormones either😂. I guess you have to think about it in the sense that with a section your body hasn’t been able to do what it usually would it’s been interfered with? So it takes a while for your hormones to sort of catch up and process what’s just happened xx

My mood is actually better after my c section compared to my vaginal birth of my first. However before my first I was exhausted in the run up, I had a long labour, 3rd degree tear, a lonely stay on the ward (covid) & my daughter then had a nicu stay and some minor issues at the same time as getting the baby blues. She struggled feeding and sleeping. Plus i ended up with a thyroid problem post delivery that I didn't know I had! So there was a lot going on. This time with my c section I've slept better in the run up, my husband stayed in hospital with us, my daughter is feeding & sleeping well, my thyroid levels are under control, no baby blues at all. So mentally I feel a million times better. I guess what I'm saying is there are many factors that go into how you're feeling, but the physical recovery from the c section hasn't taken away from our positive baby bubble. I guess what helped my mindset is that I had such a hard time with my first that the small set backs of the c section really didn't seem much

I personally think it's the difference between having your first compared to your second baby, rather than how they came into the world. I had vaginal with my first and c section with my second and although I love them both equally I was definitely more like euphoric with the first haha because she was the first to make me a mother and to start us as a family if you know what I mean! Xx