Secondary Infertility After a C-Section: Dr. Mona's Journey to IVF

WARNING: This episode includes detailed discussion of traumatic birth, a NICU stay, a newborn stroke and seizures, maternal sepsis, repeat surgeries, and fear of dying in childbirth.

What happens when the birth experience you imagined becomes a medical emergency, and the journey to growing your family takes a turn you never expected?

In this deeply personal episode of Trying, Dr. Sasha Hakman sits down for part 1 of 2 episodes with pediatrician and mother of two Dr. Mona Amin, known as Dr. Mona of PedsDocTalk, to discuss her journey through birth trauma, a NICU stay, secondary infertility, IVF, and the emotional work of healing after an unexpected birth experience.

Dr. Mona shares the terrifying complications surrounding the birth of her son, including an emergency during her C-section, his neonatal stroke and seizures, and her own life-threatening postpartum complications. Despite being a physician herself, she describes what it felt like to have her symptoms dismissed and the importance of advocating for yourself when something doesn't feel right.

When she and her husband decided to try for a second child, Dr. Mona discovered that scar tissue from her previous surgeries had caused a hydrosalpinx, a fluid-filled, blocked fallopian tube that complicated her ability to conceive. She takes us through the decision to pursue IVF, the emotional weight of having only one viable embryo, and the eventual birth of her daughter.

Together, Dr. Sasha and Dr. Mona explore the grief that can accompany an unexpected birth experience, the impact of medical trauma on both parents, and why motherhood, bonding, and healing do not have to look the way we originally imagined.

In this episode

A C-section that turned into an emergency, and what her ER-doctor husband saw in the OR

Spotting her newborn's seizures when staff first missed them

Being dismissed as "dramatic" in the hospital where she worked

Seeking accountability and protocol changes rather than a lawsuit

Secondary infertility, hydrosalpinx, and choosing IVF