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After the Storm

Postnatal Depression and the Utter Weirdness of New Motherhood

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About this listen

How did it come to this? I am tough, I am smart, I have lived alone. Now I am cracking, right down the middle....

Six months after the birth of her son, Emma Jane Unsworth finds herself in the eye of a storm. Nothing - from pregnancy to birth and beyond - has gone as she expected. A birth plan? It might as well have been a rough draft! Furious and exhausted, her life is the complete opposite of what it used to be. She's swapped all night benders for a grazed labia and Whac-a-Moling haemorrhoids. How did she end up here?

In this brave and hilarious account of postnatal depression, Emma tells her story of despair and recovery. She tackles the biggest taboos around motherhood and mental health, from botched stitches and bleeding nipples to anger and shame. How does pregnancy adapt our brains? Is postnatal depression a natural reaction to the trauma of modern motherhood? And are people's attitudes finally changing?

Dazzling and vital, After the Storm is a celebration of survival, holding out a hand to women everywhere.

©2021 Emma Jane Unsworth (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK Sexual & Reproductive Health Pregnancy Sexual Health Witty Funny Mental Health
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Really enjoyable and captivating, I’ve raced through it in days and will listen again. So honest and i could identify with so much of it. Thank you for your honesty Emma. I hope your second newborn phase is much easier and happier for you all xxx

Beautiful and wish i had this sooner

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As tempted as I am to begin my review with "As a mother..." I'll refrain. Given that my eldest child is nearly 16, I didn't think this book was written for me, at my stage in life and motherhood. I only read it because I love Emma Jane Unsworth's writing so much that I would read her shopping list. On reading, however, I felt not only this book was written for me, I almost felt that it was written about me. I'd forgotten many of the experiences that I had dampened down with time and "stop feeling sorry for yourself" thinking. All those forgotten experiences rushed back...The patronising hospital staff (not all); being told to "shut up" by a nurse in labour when I was bellowing uncontrollably like a frightened animal; and here's where I stop because I dont want to frighten pregnant women with horror stories... But 16 years have passed and the reflection that this book has given me allows me to feel strangely grateful for all these experiences. (Empathy can feel hollow if you've not been through the mire). And I've learned something too. It never occurred to me to consider my own rights in these experiences, in the way the writer has called out. This is an important book and it is beautifully written.

An insightful, honest account

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I listened to this walking my baby around and around on the least bumpy path I could find and fending off the sun and wind so that he might stay asleep. I do this 4 times a day in all weather. I wear a ridiculous coat that might work in the Arctic. I've listened to various parenting/baby books and podcasts on these walks and this is the only one that felt true to life. Thank you to this author for being brave enough to speak the truth of her situation for the sake of all of us who feel the same.

If you suspect you might need this you probably do

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This kept me company through night feeds and pushing the pram around. Brilliant to hear an honest view of motherhood

brilliant

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Unbelievable so grateful for this and would recommend highly for any new or not new parent

Amazing

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