Cheshire mum’s book on going ‘mad’ after birth
Added: (Fri Apr 26 2024)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
A retired teacher from Cheshire who ‘went mad’ after giving birth is telling her story for the first time.
Lorna May Davies has just released her memoirs, Mad Mothers, to critical acclaim.
And she hopes her moving account of suffering from the rare condition postpartum psychosis will help anyone else who is struck down by the condition.
Lorna May explained: “My hope for my memoir is that it will help others to know they are not alone, there is hope and help and they will recover.
“I was also told it should be published to help medical professionals to better understand and treat it.
“Mad Mothers is my story of suffering postpartum psychosis, where I went mad after giving birth to my daughter.
“My memoir does have a particular message that I want to convey as I am passionate about speaking out on mental health issues, especially those related to the postnatal period.
“We all need to speak out more and break those stigmas and bust those taboos that stop us or how else can we heal?
“The more light we shine on these things, the better for us all.”
Postpartum psychosis is believed to affect around one in every thousand women in the days or weeks after giving birth.
As well as depression and confusion, the illness can cause hallucinations and delusions.
After giving birth to baby Natalie, Lorna May’s symptoms became so bad that she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Having always kept a diary since childhood, she continued making daily entries into her journal – eventually leading to an outline of Mad Mothers taking shape.
Lorna May, who lives in Warrington with her husband Graham, added: “The idea for my book came about when I was in psychiatric hospital and a nurse came into my room as I was trying to write in my diary.
“She was very encouraging, saying it would be good therapy for me to express all I was feeling and, if I could publish it, the book would help nurses like her understand this very rare condition.
“The book explains how I developed postpartum psychosis, what caused it and how I recovered, including the fertility treatment I endured and aspects of my childhood that contributed to it.
“It sounds bleak and harrowing, and parts of it are, but all my early readers all commented that I’ve included a lot of joy and humour.”
Since the publication of Lorna May’s brutally honest memoirs it has attracted a lengthy string of five-star reviews.
For more details, visit Amazon and search for Lorna May Davies, where the paperback and Kindle formats of Mad Mothers are both available.
Notes to the editor
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