My GP hadn’t even heard of Sheehan’s

Hiya, I’m Caroline, 37 , from Manchester. I have a little boy Noah , who I delivered via C section in April 2021. During my delivery, I suffered a haemorrhage and subsequently wasn’t able to breastfeed. After repeatedly speaking with different lactation consultants and going backwards and forwards to my GP for over 6 months a nurse practitioner suggested ‘Sheehan’s Syndrome’ during a routine appointment with my child! I visited my GP and made the suggestion and they had never even heard of it! But as my period hadn’t come back and no milk supply they referred me to an Endocrinologist. Blood results showed low oestrogen, and low prolactin. After repeated MRI’s and bloods taken every couple of weeks, I was diagnosed with Sheehan’s early this year. I was actually told it was many other things before this, such as ‘Postpartum Depression’ or a ‘Stroke’ or that my body just needed ‘time’.

I’m now on HRT and trying to move forward. The diagnosis was really hard to accept and not being able to breastfeed my child devastated me . I honestly tortured myself for the longest time believing I’d failed my child. I received criticism in the beginning of my parenting journey, which stuck with me and had a profound impact on my mental health. I had comments such as ‘Noah won’t have a good immune system now’ ‘you’re just too lazy to breastfeed’ ‘ Your child stinks because you formula feed him’ ‘you’ll never have a bond like a breastfed kid has’ I would blame myself if he became ill or has a flare up of eczema. I prayed daily to wake up and this be just a dream and by some miracle my body would go back to ‘normal.

I’m trying everyday to accept this new me and enjoy the time my son whilst he is so little, as a lot of my energy and time was so consumed with questions and what ifs during the first few months. I’m so happy to have found this group because it’s honestly been, for such a long time, a lonely and isolating journey. Noah is doing absolutely fine and is thriving thanks to formula, we have a very tight bond and he smells divine!