120: Preeclampsia, NICU and a Healing Journey

If you’ve gone through a trying experience and NOT had the support or services that you needed, then you become distinctly passionate about helping others find those services. If those services don’t exist, then you may be determined to help provide for others exactly what YOU needed and didn’t have. This is precisely the story of today’s guest, who turned her lemons into lemonade after her own experiences and lack of support inspired her to fill the need in her area.   Meisha Shockley is the owner and executive director of Shore Grace, a family wellness center providing wrap-around services to support families on the eastern shore of Maryland who are welcoming a new baby to their home. Meisha is a doula, speaker, and coach with a specialty in maternal mental health for women of color, high risk pregnancies, prematurity, and pre-eclampsia awareness. She holds a BA in Rehabilitation Counseling and is currently pursuing her MA in Marriage and Family Counseling with a specialty in Sex Education. It was her own experience with pre-eclampsia and the premature birth of her daughter that led to the opening of Shore Grace.   Show Highlights:   After college, Meisha worked full-time in case management with moms who just needed support When she was 24 weeks pregnant with her second child, she went to a walk-in clinic with a headache and swollen feet, not realizing her blood pressure was dangerously high and she would be admitted to the hospital After tests showed pre-eclampsia, she was stabilized and discharged She saw her Ob the next day, was readmitted to a different hospital, educated about pre-eclampsia, and put on meds to go home on bed rest At 25 weeks, she was told she would have to deliver the baby soon and was put in ICU on bed rest At 27 weeks, an ultrasound showed obstructed blood flow to the baby and a C-section was scheduled, but then rushed up as an immediate life or death situation  When her daughter was born, weighing 1 lb. 6.9 oz., she remembers them saying, “It’s a girl!” Why she didn’t want to see her baby because she thought she would be burying this baby soon The baby went to NICU and she didn’t see her for two days A pivotal moment when her husband said, “Our daughter is in there fighting, and I need you to fight with her.” Even though the baby had bleeding on the brain and a hole in her heart, she was not in critical condition and had stabilized How Meisha started spending more and more time with the baby 70 days in NICU and then the scariest part: bringing her home at 3 lbs. With no one to turn to, Meisha battled postpartum depression After bringing her daughter home in August, she found out she was pregnant again in November As she started worrying and knew she was not ready for another pregnancy, she started seeing a therapist As she started journaling and using Facebook as an outlet to share, she developed a following She felt frustrated about the lack of education about pre-eclampsia How she became interested in becoming a doula, because it is the kind of support that SHE needed She started Mothering Mother Postpartum Doula Services, but knew families in her area needed more than just birth support Shore Grace Family Wellness was born, providing doulas and counselors whose goal is “to touch families wherever they are in their walk” Why Shore Grace builds lifelong relationships with families and not just provides short-term help Meisha’s efforts to break the stigma and generational habits with black women about not going to therapy or talking about the hard things Why she takes very good care of her mental health and pays attention to her triggers How she and her husband teach a Postpartum Recovery and Infant Care class together   Resources:   www.shoregracefamily.org   Find Shore Grace on Instagram and Facebook: @ShoreGraceFam and Shore Grace Fam Find Meisha on Instagram: @MeishaShockley