EP 30 | George – Processing Having an Unplanned LSCS, Postpartum Body Image, Breaking the ‘Bounce Back’ Culture & Finding Your Village

<p>In this episode, George shares her experience of an unplanned caesarean, adjusting to her postpartum body, finding community and learning to surrender to the realities of new motherhood.</p><p>We discuss:</p><ul><li>Finding out unexpectedly that she was pregnant with Teddy</li><li>Deciding there may never be a “right time” to become parents</li><li>Living in Sydney while most of George's family are in Tasmania</li><li>Realising how important community would become after having a baby</li><li>Preparing extensively for birth but much less for postpartum</li><li>Hoping for a low-intervention vaginal birth</li><li>Having an unplanned caesarean after more than 24 hours of labour</li><li>Feeling unprepared for what a caesarean and its recovery would involve</li><li>Meeting Teddy and not experiencing the immediate rush of emotion she expected</li><li>The guilt and self-blame George experienced after her birth</li><li>Learning to validate her own experience rather than comparing it with other people’s birth experience</li><li>The role pain played in George's emotional wellbeing during early postpartum</li><li>Beginning to talk openly about her birth and process some of the guilt and shame</li><li>Feeling unprepared for the physical reality of a postpartum body</li><li>The influence of “bounce back” culture and postpartum bodies portrayed online</li><li>Wondering whether her own body was normal because she hadn’t seen bodies like hers represented</li><li>Another mother reaching out and helping George realise she wasn’t alone</li><li>Finding the courage to share her postpartum body online</li><li>The response from thousands of women who felt seen and validated by her content</li><li>Moving from struggling with her body to feeling in awe of what it has done</li><li>The challenge of finding genuine friendships and community in early motherhood</li><li>Finally meeting other mums who made George feel seen in her experience</li><li>Navigating sleep deprivation at around six months postpartum</li><li>The enormous identity shift that comes with motherhood</li><li>The joy of watching Teddy’s personality begin to emerge</li><li>George's feeling that motherhood has brought a sense of contentment she had been searching for</li></ul><p>You can find George on Instagram at @georgina.raynerrr.</p><p> </p><p>A big thank you to ergoPouch for sponsoring this week’s episode.</p><p>Use the code PPS20 at checkout to receive 20% off the ergoPouch range. Valid until 31 October 2026. Te