My quest for answers has been 11 years long and I’m still searching. So far I have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression and perimenopause. I had never heard of Sheehan’s Syndrome until last year, and I’m currently 8 months into a 12 month wait to see an endocrinologist in the hope that I can finally get the help I need.

The theme of this year’s maternal mental health week is “rediscovering you”. The more I thought about this, the more I realised that presenting helpful ideas on “how to rediscover yourself” could become yet another pressure on the to-do list. Filed next to: lose weight, get fit, get some sleep. Every mum is short on time, but the number of tasks hanging over a mum with maternal pituitary condition is utterly overwhelming.

Of course the blood tests were a mess, with failure of growth hormone, thyroid hormone and sex hormones. The doctor kept asking “are you sure you didn’t lose a lot of blood?” It was like it didn’t make sense for her!

I encourage people to think about how they might want to ask questions, and ask questions about their care in early pregnancy if you can. The aim is that you feel respected at any maternity contact and that you are able to safely ask any question you want and to feel your health care team provide you with a good response that hears and validates your concerns.

I encourage you to explore the realm of rare disease. I believe that you can find personal and professional fulfilment working within this community. This is not to say that there aren’t difficulties and frustrations, but working in the rare disease field is a great choice for anyone looking to overcome challenges and advocate for change.

Running a newly formed Community Interest Company when both Directors have Sheehan's Syndrome does have its challenges! We have both been on a health rollercoaster over the past few months. We have always had the rule that we work when we can, we work when we're well and our health and family come first. That's why, from time to time if we're a little quiet, you know why. That said, we are totally committed to MPS in the long-term and we want to bring about much needed change and offer support to those who have been impacted by maternal pituitary conditions.

I always consider the years immediately after the birth of my daughter as ‘The Dark Years’. I have very few memories of that time. I don’t remember Heather’s first words (although highly likely to be Dada) and her first steps. However, to be fair, what is more important Heather is now a well-rounded individual of 32 years and her mother is very proud of her.

I used to be a professional athlete and I have never had any doubt that I would be in great shape 6 months after delivery. Unfortunately that didn't happen. During those 6 months I had 2 carpal tunnel syndrome surgeries, I spent one night in the hospital with stroke symptoms, and I was hyperthyroid and then hypothyroid. My baby slept all night. I woke up at 2 a.m. and I couldn't sleep until 4 a.m. I was exhausted every single day. 

My name is Esther. I am 51 years old and I live in Kingscliff Australia . I have been Living with SS for 19 years diagnosed only 6 years ago.

Here is my story.

When I was pregnant with my second son in 2004, I had a large bleed at 23 weeks and received a blood transfusion, thankfully the bleeding stopped and I was put on bed rest with placenta previa for the remainder of the pregnancy.

At 38 weeks I had an elective caesarean, after our healthy baby boy was born, it came time to removal the placenta.

This is when we found out I had placenta accrete and my doctor couldn’t stop the bleeding I was put under a general aesthetic and woke up many hours later in intensive care.

I also need you to know that fixing the centuries-old gender health gap is not your responsibility. Regardless of what government ministers may think, any bad care you receive is never your fault. It’s not because you didn’t try hard enough, didn’t get enough second opinions or didn’t make enough complaints; it’s because the system has failed you.

I finally got prescribed thyroxine, which is a relatively cheap medication, I take it once a day and within four and a half weeks I noticed such a difference. In particular, I had more energy and wasn't forced to have the afternoon nap that I had to have for at least five years previously.

As you can imagine this has been so frustrating and upsetting, the fact that I've tried to push for this diagnosis for years and I'd been dismissed for so long and I have missed out on so much of life.

Getting a diagnosis is step one. Relief you finally know what is wrong. Phew. Okay, now which hormones are out? That’s step two. Blood tests, insulin stress tests, glucose tolerance tests. These all give a picture of which hormones are deficient. It’s not the same for every woman. We all need to be treated as individuals. For me it’s thyroid, sex hormones and growth hormone. My cortisol is fine at the moment. Oh and did I mention that this can all change?

My name is Gen and I’m from New Zealand.

So far I have been diagnosed with central hypothyroidism and premature ovarian failure and we believe it may be Lymphocytic Hypophysitis going back nearly 11 years ago when I gave birth to my daughter.

An ER Consultant came to give me the new results.  He said that my bloods “were not conducive with life”.  I laughed – then I looked at his face and realised it was a nervous laugh.  I was then admitted to the hospital for more tests, that was the start of my six-week journey as an in-patient.

Maternal Pituitary Support is delighted to announce it has been awarded a grant of £10,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund to support a mental health project for mothers with Sheehan’s Syndrome.

When the doctor visited a few days after the birth, he explained some things. He told me to tell every doctor I see in the future that I had a severe postpartum hemorrhage. He said that issues could develop over time or this could spontaneously get better. He said he really couldn't predict because my milk was coming in.

There was very little support or information around maternal pituitary conditions. I was told I would be the only woman in the UK with this, so I felt isolated. Sadly, because of my traumatic experience and hormone deficiencies, I developed depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. I was diagnosed with Sheehan’s Syndrome 9 months later.

I started running some blood tests with my GP and OBGYN. They both came back saying everything seemed “normal”. On a whim, I sent my blood results to my husband’s cousin and a close friend who was a starting physician at the time. He looked at my results and called me while I was at work. I will never forget this conversation. He had put the puzzle pieces together: my hemmorage, the lack of ability to breastfeed, and now the lack of a menstrual cycle. “Your pituitary hormones are low. I think you may have Sheehan’s Syndrome”.

I noticed that I had started to feel quite unwell about 9 months after giving birth. I had lost my sex drive, my skin was dry, nails breaking, l was gaining weight and generally felt urgh. I realised my hair was coming out in clumps. (You can see on one of the pics with my hair back and sun glasses on.) And when I stopped and took a breath, I noticed that my NCT gang were full of the energy that I didn’t have - they were planning group runs up hills with newly bought running prams, whilst I was having trouble walking up the hill - I was shattered.

I came around in the recovery room, and this for me was when the nightmare started. I had no idea what happened, I thought something was wrong with the baby. Nobody would tell me anything. Finally, I was brought back to the room and reunited with my partner and son. Then it hit me, and I felt awful. Tired, weak, heavy and disorientated.