Lisa Wilkinson’s on-air confession: “It took me six months to feel normal again”
Lisa Wilkinson has spoken honestly about her experience giving birth and the toll having a caesarean section took on her.
Following a segment on The Project on Wednesday night about new mothers who had difficult births experiencing PTSD, the 58-year-old reflected upon her experience giving birth to her first child.
Explaining when she was in her “very first birthing class” with her husband Pete FitzSimmons, the midwife told everyone that “one in four of you will have a caesarean”.
“I remember looking around and thinking, ‘Gee, I wonder who’ll have that?'” she explained.
“And guess who had a caesarean, 26-hour labour, emergency caesar, knocked out with a general anaesthetic?” Lisa said. “It took me six months before I felt normal again.”
“Emotionally?” co-host Waleed Aly asked Lisa.
“In every single way,” the mum-of-three admitted. “There’s so much about it you don’t anticipate, but talking about it and sharing those experiences is so important.
“It makes all the difference.”
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition usually associated with war veterans but it’s also affecting an alarming number of new mums. #TheProjectTV
Find out more info via @AusBirthTrauma here: https://t.co/uUfC39Ezl2 pic.twitter.com/hjJNLZfku0— The Project (@theprojecttv) July 4, 2018
Lisa and husband Pete have three children together – Jake, 23, Louis, 21 and 20-year-old Billi.