isis guibert

“Between obstetrical violence, lack of personnel at the hospital "not having time for you", the COVID rules banning my husband for being with me during the birth or for visiting me at the hospital for three days, the little compassion doctors had telling me my breast infection was nothing because they simply didn't know, I found myself very alone in Hong Kong after giving birth.”

“It was at the end of the first month after giving birth that I realised I had postpartum depression, after crying multiples times. Between obstetric violence, lack of personnel at the hospital, not having any time for myself, the COVID rules banning my husband from being with me during the birth or for visiting me at the hospital for three days, the lack of compassion that doctors had, I found myself very alone in Hong Kong after giving birth…

Even though I have a lovely husband who took good care of me, I talked to him but somehow I couldn’t derive find the level of comfort that I needed. He was there for me and tried his best to help me, but I guess that there are certain things that only mothers can feel. I called my paediatric nurse and she really helped; almost acting as a psycholgist for me as she gave me a lot of helpful advice.

Benedicte (Baby'n You) also helped by providing care for my baby and she was simply here for me when I needed someone to understand.

Other than my paediatric nurse, I found it really difficult to get help. I had to see the lactation consultant at Queen Mary Hospital, but even though she was "nice", she never actually really helped, and in fact made me feel even worse by asking me to travel from Lamma to the hospital every two days. I ended up bleeding like hell because I had to carry my baby alone, and she said that if things didn’t get any better they would take my baby away from me.

Through the geobaby group I later discovered that I could get help from other lactation consultants who come to your house, but with the little compassion I had from the local one at Queen Mary, I felt that I didn’t want to see anyone else who was local. I think that when you are facing challenges, having someone that share your own culture can be more helpful because they understand better how you think.

I went to Queen Mary to see the lactation consultant or doctors for my infection many times, but they never really helped. In the end, after four months of suffering, my Mom went to see my doctor in France and sent me the medication that I needed. I took it in spite of all the bad advice that I had been given; according the doctor here there was nothing wrong with me, and they said things like: "We don't give probiotics when people take antibiotics; if you have problems as a result of the antibiotics, you need to stop eating vegetables and yogurt." I’m not a doctor but I am also not stupid, and I lost all confidence in local doctors.

I began to start feeling better when I left Hong Kong to take a break and be able to rest whilst my family took care of the baby. For me, Hong Kong is the worst place to give birth. With everything that happened to me, I am terrified of the idea of going back to the public system to have a second one, to the point of perhaps not getting pregnant again.

When I thought everything was finally done, the nine-month birthday of my baby hit me. He started to sleep better, as did I, and my body wanted more. In the end it took me a year to find myself again and start going back to playing sport. I'm very glad that I had people to count on and I am grateful for all those whom I don’t know, but who helped me through various Facebook groups. 


But how could I help? Well, hopefully by sharing my tips as below:

  • Facebook group – Hong Kong Breastfeeding – Women only (advice on breastfeeding and recommendations of professionals you can see if needed).

  • Facebook group – Support Breastfeeding: Ittasteslikelove

  • Facebook group – Babywearing Hong Kong

  • Paediatric nurse: Benedicte – helps with everything – she is the best! (https://www.babynyouhk.com)

  • Whatsapp geobaby group - there is a Facebook group through which you can find the link for the geobaby group you need. There is one group per three due date months.

Postpartum is real, I don't think we should fear it; I think we should be prepared for it. There are many people out there who are able to help, so please reach out.

Between obstetrical violence, lack of personnel at the hospital "not having time for you", the COVID rules banning my husband for being with me during the birth or for visiting me at the hospital for 3 days, the little compassion doctors had telling me my breast infection was nothing because they simply didn't know, I found myself very alone in Hong Kong after giving birth.

Thankfully I have a lovely husband that took good care of me and I was recommended the best paediatric nurse in town, Benedicte (Baby'n You). She really helped me, provided care for my baby and was simply here for me when I needed someone to understand. Going back to work was terrible, I was so tired from the short nights and my infection. I felt like I was constantly leaving in a cloud not remembering what I did the day before. Lucky, I was able to leave Hong Kong for the summer and this gave me the time to recover.

The ‘For You’ photo-shoot was really nice; the best shoot ever! I felt like I could wear my best dress again and feel beautiful.



Since then I think it's taking a while to return to ‘normal’. When you are in postpartum depression, you just want to feel comfortable, no sexy underwear, no dressing up. Now after fourteen months I’m at a point whereby I would love to wear my best dress again to go for a romantic dinner...”