The Version Nobody Posts: On Postnatal Depression, Filtered Motherhood and Taking Postpartum Health Seriously

1. For anyone hearing about placenta encapsulation for the first time, can you walk us through what Placenta Plus actually is, how the process works, and why you chose to build it as a laboratory-based service rather than a home-based one?

Of course, Placenta Plus is a placenta encapsulation company that specialises in turning your placenta into products for your postpartum recovery. I decided to design and build labs for our service because the risks of operating from home were too high. All the negative things you hear about placenta encapsulation (cross contamination etc) all come from relaxed home preparation. I knew this service done correctly could help woman through their most fragile period (postpartum) and that was exactly what I wanted to do so designing labs was the way forward to ensure our clients got the safest service possible.

2. You weren’t diagnosed with postnatal depression until your baby was 10 months old. Looking back, what did those months feel like, and was there a part of you that kept dismissing what you were going through?

The only word I can use is lonely. I felt so isolated even with people around me. I think my dismissal was more thinking I was the problem rather than looking at why I felt the way I did. I just felt like I was the reason I couldn’t feel happy and when people around me would comment things like “you don’t know how lucky you are” it just reaffirmed that the issue was me. It was like the PPD had became my personality and I didn’t even notice it take over.

3. There’s often a very specific image people associate with postnatal depression. How much do you think social media has reinforced that narrow picture, and how does that make it harder for women who don’t fit it to recognise what they’re actually experiencing?

I think lots of people on social media reinforce the classic image of PPD (crying all the time, struggling to bond with your baby, struggling to run a home etc) because that’s the classic version that people recognise. But my experience was totally different to that and I think that was why my diagnosis was so delayed. It’s not a one size fits all unfortunately and I think the taboo needs to be lifted and space opened up without judgment for new mums to say (I really don’t like my partner right now, I’m not finding joy in any of this, I’m on auto pilot) These were the small things of how my depression started. But I felt I couldn’t say that and that I should just be grateful I had a healthy baby. When in reality I was drowning and each month the water got deeper and deeper.

4. New motherhood on social media looks like golden hour feeds, glowing skin and a tidy nursery. How dangerous is that curated version of postpartum life, and what does it do to a woman who is silently struggling behind her own perfectly filtered grid?

I always say to everyone social media gives you a photo, an image someone wants to put out. Although that may be that person’s reality it doesn’t mean it has to be yours it also shouldn’t make you feel bad about your reality. Social media very rarely covers the physical recovery from birth and how raw that is. The sore breast, constipation, stitches, hot flushes, aches and pains so I think when you are going through all that while trying to care for a tiny human. It’s hard to open Instagram and see a new mum perfectly put together with her new baby talking about how magical it is. That in itself creates a lot of self-doubt for any new mum.

5. Many high-achieving women continue showing up, managing and performing even while struggling deeply. Does that capability become a barrier to getting help, and does the pressure to appear online make it even harder to ask for support in real life?

Absolutely! This constant pressure on woman to “prove” has became toxic. Social media has obviously opened a huge space for comparison which is so dangerous. We spend hours comparing ourselves to strangers online. When I finally went to my doctor a feeling of defeat was there. I look back now and that makes me sad that even when I was doing the right thing I felt defeated and that is because attitudes around women’s health or mental health are often “she can’t cope” or “she’s being dramatic”

6. Is this primarily a self-recognition problem, or are healthcare providers also missing the signs?

In your experience, where does the system tend to fail new mothers most? When I finally went to my doctor he told me he noted it down 8 weeks earlier. I was shocked at the fact he hadn’t addressed it then? I still don’t know why he didn’t and he never gave me them answers but I do think lack of education for new mums, partners, friends and family is vital in closing the gap. Health care support post-partum is so basic also, I do think that needs a huge revamp too.

7. Placenta encapsulation still divides opinion online, with plenty of misinformation circulating. How do you navigate that noise, and what does it mean to you to have built the UAE’s only laboratory-based service around safety, hygiene and informed choice?

When starting the company, I read every negative thing about placenta encapsulation I could. That was how I was able to then cover all of them corners weather that be labs or training. We are extremely transparent with our clients, and I think that’s so important. Building the only placenta encapsulation lab in the UAE has been amazing challenging at times but it has really felt like a huge achievement.

8. If a woman is reading this right now and quietly wondering whether what she’s feeling is normal, what would you say to her?

I would tell her to speak openly to someone don’t give the filtered version. Be really honest and talk weather it’s to a friend, sister, mum or partner talk don’t feel like that alone. Speak to a doctor if you feel you don’t want to talk to close ones. Also be kind to yourself having PPD does not mean your doing anything wrong. It doesn’t define you as a mum or a person but trying to manage it alone is hard and it doesn’t have to be like that.