'Six weeks after giving birth I knew something was wrong. Instead of helping, doctors gaslit me.'

Anna's labour seemed to be going perfectly. After struggling with fertility and undergoing IVF, she was finally about to meet her daughter Camilla. The induction at 39 weeks went smoothly and after 55 minutes of pushing, Camilla arrived safely.

"She came out, was on my chest, and she's always been a really strong baby. She lifted her neck up and kind of we looked at each other and it was just like this amazing moment," Anna told Mamamia's Diary of a Birth podcast.

"Then I looked at my OB and she had a look of concern on her face and I said 'what's going on', like, what's happening?"

What should have been the most joyful moment of Anna's life quickly turned into a medical emergency. She had begun haemorrhaging blood, as medical staff rushed around her. Her placenta had delivered, but her doctor suspected some remained inside.

"I have to actually manually go in and scoop it out," the doctor told Anna.

Listen to the full episode of Diary of a Birth below. Post continues afterwards.

Despite the traumatic scene unfolding around her, Anna's doctor assured her that all placental tissue had been successfully removed. But deep down, Anna's instincts were telling her something different.

The first real sign that something was wrong came with breastfeeding. Despite Camilla latching immediately and seeming eager to feed, Anna wasn't producing any milk — not even colostrum.

"She was crying, crying and crying, and I was like, she's just hungry, like she's really really hungry," Anna remembered. "I just felt helpless because I knew I had lost a lot of blood, so I was really trying to hydrate and do all the things to get it going, but nothing was working."

Anna threw herself into what's called triple feeding, pumping for 30 minutes, then breastfeeding for 30 minutes, then topping up with formula, around the clock. After an hour of pumping, she would get just 30 millilitres of milk. It was exhausting and heartbreaking.

"I said to my husband, 'I think this is something to do with my placenta. Like when the placenta comes out, that is what signals to the brain that it's time to start the milk.'

One week after birth, Anna's suspicions seemed to be confirmed in the most confronting way possible.

Anna with her baby Camilla. Image: Supplied

"I went to the bathroom and this thing fell out of me and I was like, 'oh my gosh, this is some of my placenta'," she recalled. "And I kid you not. The next day my supply slightly increased, and I was like, oh my goodness."

Anna did what any concerned new mother would do — she collected the tissue in a glass jar and took it straight to the hospital, demanding answers. But instead of taking her seriously, medical staff dismissed her concerns entirely, telling her it was merely a blood clot with no placental tissue whatsoever.

At her two-week appointment, Anna tried again. She told her doctor something wasn't right, that her milk supply hadn't come in properly. Instead of investigating her concerns, the doctor prescribed medication to increase milk supply, medication with serious side effects that Anna ultimately chose not to take after researching them with her mother.

By her six-week appointment, Anna was still bleeding and experiencing stomach pain. She knew she had to push harder.

"I finally said, 'I'd really like you to do an ultrasound and I just want to check'. And she did an ultrasound, and she came back in and she said, 'yeah, there's something there', and I was like, oh, my goodness."

The vindication was bittersweet.

"I felt totally gaslit. I know everyone throws that word around, but I felt really scared," Anna said.

Further testing revealed she had placenta accreta, a rare condition where placental tissue grows into the uterine wall. Even after a D&C (dilation and curettage) procedure to remove the remaining tissue, some remained embedded in her uterus.

Watch: Diary Of A Birth | Trailer. Post continues after video.

According to obstetrician Dr Bronwyn Devine, placenta accreta spectrum is becoming more common, often linked to previous caesarean sections or uterine procedures.

The condition can interfere with breastfeeding because "what causes milk production to start is the placenta coming away". When tissue remains, it can disrupt this crucial hormonal cascade.

Anna's experience is a stark reminder of how often women's concerns are dismissed in healthcare settings. 

For Anna, the condition may complicate future pregnancies, requiring careful monitoring and potentially complex surgical management. But her message to other mothers facing similar dismissal is unwavering: 

"The main thing is to trust your gut, trust your instincts, and don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. If you really have a strong feeling, trust that and follow that and book the appointment," Anna advised. "I have no idea the situation that I would be in had I not demanded that ultrasound. I don't even want to think about it."

Feature Image: Supplied