Healing the Tigress Ep. 8 - Motherhood Overseas: Navigating Traumatic Birth and Postpartum Abroad with Tisha Kachhapati, MBPsS, MBACP
Please help us welcome our first international guest! Tisha Kachhapati, MBPsS, MBACP, is a Nepalese American psychodynamic counselor now living abroad and based in the United Kingdom for the past decade. She is what we would consider an ex-pat, but as we discuss, she mentions that because she is a person of color, people often call her an “immigrant” instead.
In this episode, Tisha describes her experience giving birth in the UK and the traumatic birth that followed, which left her getting an emergency C-section and barely conscious enough to realize a Code Blue had been called. Tisha tells us how it felt like the mother was forgotten after the baby was delivered and how her postpartum depression and anxiety weren’t as apparent until 8 months later because she seemed so high functioning. Even when she asked her general practitioner for antidepressants, she was dismissed and told she just needed to “go on a holiday.”
Eventually, Tisha took the antidepressants and got better. But when her son was two, Tisha was trying to ask her GP if they had more help for maternal mental health to offer her. She was turned away and told there was nothing they could offer her. Tisha was shocked. But she turned that disappointment into her personal fuel to change her career completely and pursue a degree in psychodynamic counseling.
Please tune in to this inspiration story from a mum across the pond. We think you’ll find it relatable, enlightening, and funny, as Tisha’s humor and wonderful British accent really shine through. And the bigger message is that perinatal mood and anxiety disorders do not discriminate; many of thesame themes and societal stigmas and shortcomings are the same in the UK as they are in the US.
Find more of Tisha at:
Instagram: @tmktherapy
Website: www.tmktherapy.com
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Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.