Élodie's Testimonial

March 2020: my absolute happiness was hit hard by the news of a global epidemic coupled with a widespread lockdown. This longed-for pregnancy was to take place behind closed doors and in a climate as anxiety-inducing as it was uncertain. Family isolation, workplace harassment, isolated pregnancy monitoring, heightened vulnerability: the light and softness I had imagined quickly gave way to a heavy sadness. The first time I saw and heard life growing inside me, I had to hold back my tears and emotions behind an FFP2 mask. It was impossible to share this "happy event" with anyone, not even with the dad. But a medical error during my delivery – and the experience of indescribable pain – would turn everything upside down. Shock, acute post-traumatic stress, dissociation: I had left my body and was no longer there. I was no longer me. I had been robbed of the meeting of a lifetime – that with my child – and lost life at the same time.