AFL star’s wife says she developed PTSD after early labour

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AFL star’s wife says she developed PTSD after early labour

An AFL star’s wife has revealed she suffered from post-traumatic stress after giving birth to her firstborn son seven weeks early. 

West Coast Eagles couple Jack and Courtney Darling have two sons Leo, one, and Max, three, who was born seven weeks early in Perth on June 2, 2017. 

Mrs Darling, who is a physiotherapist specialising in women’s health, had a surprise birth to Max without Jack by her side as he was on the Gold Coast with the Eagles. 

Speaking on The Significant Others podcast on Tuesday, Mrs Darling said the nightmare began when Jack couldn’t fly back in time for the birth. 

West Coast Eagles couple Jack and Courtney Darling have two sons Leo (right), one, and Max (left), 3, who was born seven weeks early in Perth on June 2, 2017.  Mrs Darling had a surprise birth to Max without Jack by her side as he was on the Gold Coast with the Eagles

‘I rang Jack and told him, he was frantically trying to pack a bag at 2:30 in the morning on the Gold Coast. He said “I’ll get back I’ll make it”. I said “you can’t, there’s no time”. And he obviously didn’t make it. It was so hard,’ she said. 

Mrs Darling said her labour progressed ‘very, very fast’, which meant Jack could not make it back from the Gold Coast to Perth in time. 

‘Max was born while Jack was in the taxi on the way to Brisbane Airport. So then we were on the phone for a bit, it was awful,’ she said. 

‘He was going to be on an 8:30am flight, which is just so late. I was just quite numb and I just said “can you stay there and play the game because I feel like if you come back then it was really for nothing”. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have said that. 

‘At that stage, I’d seen Max for a moment but he didn’t come out well so he got taken to the ICU right away. So at that point when I was on the phone to Jack I was completely alone in that hospital room. 

‘I remember just looking at this beige wall. I’d never felt so out of body and alone in my life. It was really traumatic.’ 

Jack, Max, Courtney and Leo Darling. Mrs Darling said she suffered post-traumatic stress after giving birth to Max, which prompted her to seek psychological help

Mrs Darling also said she felt ‘pressured’ into having a caesarean section by doctors. 

‘Max ended up being a caesarean, he was breach. And I just felt pressured into the decision,’ she said. 

‘I felt like maybe the hospital weren’t equipped to deal with a breach baby at one o’clock in the morning on a long weekend. It was a really hard decision to make.’ 

The physiotherapist said she felt like ‘a shell of herself’ after Max’s birth.       

‘After I had Max, I felt like nobody really understood the way Jack and I were feeling,’ Mrs Darling said. 

‘A lot of people would say, “At least you’re both healthy”, and I would often feel like, “alive doesn’t mean you’re healthy”. Physically, when Max was born he wasn’t healthy and emotionally, I was not healthy.’ 

Courtney, Max and Jack celebrate her reaching 37 weeks of pregnancy with their second son Leo in January, 2019. For her second pregnancy, Mrs Darling got an independent midwife to feel like she was ‘in the driver’s seat’. She carried Leo to full-term and gave birth naturally

Months later, a friend suggested Mrs Darling see a psychologist to deal with her post-traumatic stress.  

‘The more I talked about what I went through, the more I realised that I lost my voice. When I was pregnant with Leo, I just realised I can say ‘no’ and this is my body,’ she said. 

‘I was in so much emotional pain after having Max I could not go through that again.’

For her second pregnancy in 2019, Mrs Darling got an independent midwife to feel like she was ‘in the driver’s seat’. She carried Leo to full-term and gave birth naturally.

She hopes her story can support other mothers who have traumatic births and suffer post-traumatic stress afterwards.  

The mother-of-two is now studying a masters degree in pelvic health and continence and running her new business.    

The Darling boys in West Coast Eagles colours with their parents Courtney and Jack. Mrs Darling hopes her story can support other mothers who have traumatic births and suffer post-traumatic stress

Source: Daily Mail Australia | World News

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