Famous singer Meghan Trainor revealed her horrifying childbirth experience and the mom-shaming that followed during Monday’s episode of “Today With Hoda & Jenna.”
Trainor discussed never having broken a bone before or requiring stitches in her life, then being told she had to remain conscious while she underwent a C-section due to her baby being breech.
“Usually when you’re being sewn up for 45 minutes, you’re like, ‘Look at my gorgeous baby. We did it. This is everything,” Trainor said to People in a previous interview. “But I was laying there alone.” Her baby boy, Riley, struggled to breathe and was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with her husband Daryl Sabara, while Trainor lay on the surgical table being sewn up after her C-section, according to the outlet.
“And then when I tell people what happened, they’re like, ‘Jesus Christ,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, that was kind of messed up, right?’” she continued, according to the outlet.
Trainor recalled having flashbacks and nightmares of the C-section that her therapist later diagnosed as PTSD.
“I couldn’t go to sleep at night,” she told People. “I would be in tears and tell Daryl, ‘I’m still on that table, dude. I’m trapped there. I can’t remind myself I’m in bed and I’m safe at home.’ I had to learn how traumatic it was.”
Mom-shaming soon followed due to Trainor’s use of antidepressants during her pregnancy, the singer said. She described feeling “so much shame” when some implied Riley was born “sleepy” because of the medication.
“It was a big debate, do I stay on my antidepressants or not? It was very safe, I got it approved by all my doctors,” Trainor said, but added she was still subjected to criticism after she gave birth.
We’re catching up with @Meghan_Trainor about her new book called “Dear Future Mama: A TMI Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Motherhood From Your Bestie,” her relationship with husband, Daryl Sabara, and more! pic.twitter.com/DFfC7s3hJb
— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) April 24, 2023
“[Riley] came out asleep, and that’s what they literally called it, he’s ‘sleepy.’ And I was like, ‘Wake him up, like what do you mean?’” Trainor told co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on the show. “Some people were like, ‘Oh it’s because you were on your antidepressants.’”
“My doctors, I called them and was like, ‘You said nothing would happen!’ And they said there’s no science that backs that up, they’re just pointing fingers.”
“I just had a crazy surgery and I’m on all these drugs and I feel miserable and to get pointed at to say it’s your fault that your kid’s asleep,” Trainor continued. (RELATED: Blake Lively Posts A Subtle Announcement Welcoming Baby #4)
“My doctor who did the C-section was like, ‘C-sections are gnarly, like, the baby had trauma coming out. It happens all the time, and it’s unpredictable and you did nothing wrong,’” she added.
Trainor reveals more about her experience in her upcoming book, “Dear Future Mama,” set for release Tuesday.