A&E Doctor Maddy Lucy Dann: Childbirth and C-sections are the Two Gnarliest Things I’ve Ever Seen

Happy Mum

A&E doctor Maddy Lucy Dann joins host Gi to discuss her transition from a high-intensity medical career to motherhood. The conversation expl

Key takeaways

• Maddy Lucy Dann describes childbirth and C-sections as the 'two gnarliest things' she has witnessed in her medical career.
• To manage pregnancy-related neurosis, Maddy requested fewer night shifts to avoid decision fatigue and potential environmental risks.
• The discovery of her pregnancy occurred on April Fool's Day, causing initial skepticism from her partner.
• Maddy reflects on how becoming a mother changed her reaction to news stories involving children, making them harder to watch.
• She discusses the 'hard launch' of both her pregnancy and her relationship through her social media presence.

Main topics

• A&E medicine and night shifts
• Pregnancy and prenatal neurosis
• The intensity of childbirth and C-sections

Notable quotes

Childbirth and C-sections are the two gnarliest things I've ever seen.

Conclusion

An authentic and humorous exploration of how motherhood provides a new

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:05) Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of Happy Mum. Now I am pleased to say that we've listened to you. We have a most requested guest and today we are delivering with Maddie, Lucy, Dan. Woohoo! I am so excited for you to listen to this episode. I've been very giddy about coming in today and actually meeting Maddie. We've never met before. But she makes me howl online. I have shared many a video made by Maddie. She is absolutely hilarious. She is an A &E doctor. She knows her stuff. But this year she also became a mama. So it's been amazing seeing that shift, the way that she's talked about everything. It turns out during the chat, that her partner said to her, so are you going to be funny or serious during this one? I'm just pleased to say that she was authentically her and that's all we can wish for. So here it is. Here's my chat with Maddie. How many people are going, how our thumbs are going to develop from the scroll? Yeah, we Speaker 2 (1:11) see people that talk about the neckline that you get from looking at your phone. Oh, yeah. You get a wrinkle there. Yeah. I don't think it matters. Speaker 1 (1:18) Dan, thank you so much for coming all the way down. This is such a treat. Speaker 2 (1:23) We've been going this whole time. We do a soft launch. Alex will decide. Because I've said all my funny things. Speaker 1 (1:30) I've Speaker 2 (1:30) got no more Speaker 1 (1:31) jokes. Speaker 2 (1:32) No, it's great fun. I like a day out. Speaker 1 (1:34) You don't feel pressure, though, to be funny? Speaker 2 (1:35) No, it just comes quite naturally. I'm joking. Speaker 1 (1:38) No, but I mean, Speaker 2 (1:39) there Speaker 1 (1:39) must be that thing, though, right? If people know you online for being a certain way, and then... I Speaker 2 (1:47) think when I meet people in real life that recognise me, I say the same three things. I'd be like, oh my God, I follow you. And Speaker 1 (1:52) I Speaker 2 (1:52) go, thanks, someone has to. And that's just why I have my go-to lines. And then I'm like, tell everyone I'm better looking in person and what other things do I say. I hope I'm better looking in person. I'm absolutely chopped on my social media, which is deliberate. Speaker 1 (2:05) I remember when stories came in and everyone being like, oh, my God, this is awful because now we have to. I was like, no. And also being able to be online with no makeup on, nothing at all. Like I'd much rather people meet me in real life and go, oh, my God, you look so much better in real life. Speaker 2 (2:23) You Speaker 1 (2:23) don't look like you do Speaker 2 (2:25) online. Speaker 1 (2:25) Oh, it was a filter. Yeah. Speaker 2 (2:27) I mean, back when the filters were the dog filter, you Speaker 1 (2:29) know, it was obvious when you had a filter on. Speaker 2 (2:31) No, I'm the same. I'm the same as you. It's easier. Yeah, I brought makeup with me to touch up. Didn't bother. Speaker 1 (2:37) No. I always bring it with me. Speaker 2 (2:39) So when you go on holiday and you've got Speaker 1 (2:41) double the amount of underwear. Why? Oh, Speaker 2 (2:43) in case you shit yourself. Yeah. Every day. Speaker 1 (2:45) Every day. Not just a singular time. Speaker 2 (2:47) But then the one time you don't bring it, you will need it. This is the thing. Then you get the runs. Absolutely. Speaker 1 (2:54) What was your childhood like? Oh, hello. Get straight to it. All Speaker 2 (2:58) right. I'll lie on the couch. No, it was great. Very nice childhood. Grew up with, I've got an older sister, but only just. And I've realised that the age gap we have, my... I would be needing to be trying to get pregnant very soon to have the same age gap. That's a Speaker 1 (3:13) really weird place to be. I can remember my eldest being nine months and being like, whoa, if we went now, that would be an eight-month gap, and that's crazy. Which Speaker 2 (3:20) is Speaker 1 (3:20) bizarre. And respectfully, I just don't Speaker 2 (3:22) fancy it right now. Sorry, darling. Normally in the mood. But, yeah, I went to a normal school, had a lovely childhood. Nice house. Then my parents got divorced. Oh, the fuckers. I know. Speaker 1 (3:34) So inconsiderate. Speaker 2 (3:36) But I think I was about 14 years old going, finally. Really? Yeah. I mean, they just, it was, it was one of the, I think you can look back on it as an adult and you understand it so differently to how you would even possibly perceive it when you were a child. And it was the right thing for them to do. And then my dad stayed where, like in the town we used to live. My mum moved just a town. a little bit further away, and it was all fine and lovely. My sister went off to university then, so that was me and Mum in our little house by the river. But no, it was lovely, lovely really. And that was all down south. I was born in Bath and grew up right in that Wiltshire area. Speaker 1 (4:11) Gorgeous place to Speaker 2 (4:11) be. Oh, really nice. You Speaker 1 (4:13) must have seen other cities and been like, oh, God, Speaker 2 (4:15) all these places. I mean, it's taken about, I think, three or four years of travelling into London here and there to not be... short of breath and mid panic attack at all times in London I used to find it so stressful coming into London I was always in this like heightened must look like a Londoner keep my finger over the top of my phone as I'm walking around with it but now I'm I mean it's slightly more stressful being the baby but then my partner's so good yeah to travel with because you just sort of Speaker 1 (4:42) But that's just a whole other ballgame, isn't it, when Speaker 2 (4:44) you've got a baby? Everything resets. I think you build up skill points of things you're good at in social situations and work stuff, and you sort of get all this XP loaded up, and then you have a baby, and it's like... And it wings it all down, and then you're like, oh, I have to relearn now how to do this, but now with a baby. Uh-huh. And depending Speaker 1 (5:02) on where you are and how comfortable you are with your baby, the confidence that that knocks out of you takes a long time to feel. You can be back in social situations and know what you're doing and know how to socialise and be and not just have your... I can remember the mum sweats so much early on. Anything that my eldest would do, I'd be like, I just feel it bubbling away inside. Speaker 2 (5:24) Yeah, I think my partner's a bit more stressed about things than I am because he's not got any... babies in his family that he's been exposed to and seen babies growing up and stuff. And I don't particularly, but then at work, I mean, I've worked in paediatric emergency departments, so I've seen babies of all various ages and very poorly babies. So actually seeing a well baby all the time, it's lovely. So I think because he maybe is more prone to being a bit worried about something, then I take the calmer approach. But then that absolutely flips on its head when I lose my mind and go insane, which I have been. Really? Speaker 1 (5:55) Oh, yeah. Speaker 2 (5:56) Oh, I've been mental. Have you? Yeah. Oh, completely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's pushed you there? Speaker 1 (6:02) The baby. Yeah, he's a really, really nice guy. Speaker 2 (6:06) Actually, he is a very good baby. He's a very, very good baby. And I've heard people say they don't like being asked if their baby's Speaker 1 (6:12) a Speaker 2 (6:12) good baby. But he's such a good boy and he's just fabulous. But it's been, I think, all the hormones and just becoming a parent. Speaker 1 (6:19) Yeah. And I think Speaker 2 (6:20) it's one of those things that you can't explain to people. unless they are a parent. And I thought that was the cringiest thing in the world. And now I'm like, oh my God, it's actually true. And I think when I had him, I suddenly, like there's a really funny sketch on Family Guy where Quagmire discovers he's got like an illegitimate child. And I think they're like grown up at this point. And he really leans into the thing where, you know, if you see something on the news, something bad's happened to a kid, you're like, oh God, oh, I can't look. Oh, I can't look at it. And he sort of does this and it's a... ridiculous because this child's grown up it had nothing to do with it that's me I see something horrible on the news and I'm like oh I can't look can't watch and I'm not like a morbid tourist but I would watch like like murder things and drama stuff and scary things but there's an episode of Black Mirror I had to turn off because I was like oh god I can't watch it because there's something horrible happens to a kid or a baby and I was like I can't and that's so then all the Epstein stuff sent me absolutely west there were moments where I was and also it's and you think, how could I possibly think that this was any worse than it is? And you have your own baby and you're like, oh. Speaker 1 (7:16) Which is also interesting in the position that you're in because being a doctor, you would have seen so much through work. And I know you've got a very different head on in those moments, no? Speaker 2 (7:27) I take the temperature of the room and I see whether a bit of a joke is the vibe. You shouldn't be doing punchlines between compressions as long as you're not Speaker 1 (7:37) doing that. Speaker 2 (7:38) It tends to be fine. No, I tend, I'm more, yeah, I treat the handover sessions like sort of a new material five minute stand up thing just to try out a few little jokes, see if people are receptive to it. But no, I've seen a fair amount of sort of stuff at work, but I've always been quite good at compartmentalising work from home. And if I'm like on my way home and I'm still thinking about something at work, if I haven't gotten over it by the time I park the car, then I call up and I say, oh, could you look at this? Or what do you think about that? And oftentimes they say, go to bed. Speaker 1 (8:07) They just go. Speaker 2 (8:08) to bed. Speaker 1 (8:08) But I guess in those situations I guess the big difference to what we hear on the news is that in those settings whatever is coming in in hospital you have you have a responsibility to solve or fix the problem and see what's going on. Speaker 2 (8:21) And I can do Speaker 1 (8:21) something about it. Whereas when it's on the news Speaker 2 (8:23) it's out of your control. You look at these stories and you want to say don't you know people that have done awful things to children don't do that just give them to me give them to me I'll take them I'd have a house full I'll have them all. Put them all in the house. And that was the thing that really surprised me because it was stuff that I already think is horrendous. These awful things that can happen to children, child abuse stories and all this. And you think, how could I possibly find that more galling? And then you have your own baby and it's a whole other... So that was definitely something that really surprised me because I'd not really heard anyone... I know you hear people say, oh, God, when you've got your own children, you can't watch that on the news. My mum would say it all the time and I'm like, Mother, get a grip. For God's sake. But now I'm like... There's so many things. I just get it now. I Speaker 1 (9:02) totally get it. Did you always know that you wanted to have children? Speaker 2 (9:05) Yeah, but not in kind of like... I mean, I always had baby dolls growing up, loved Baby Born, big fan. Used to put them in front of the fire because they were always quite cold to touch and that freaked me out. So I'd always have them just a little bit... Little melted Speaker 1 (9:16) babies. Don't do that to real babies. Speaker 2 (9:18) They feel cold to touch, it's another issue. Peripherally, it's normal. So I did, but I was never like, that's my main end goal. And I think it's because I wanted to do medicine and be a doctor and work in A &E. So I kind of was on that trajectory and had that as my goal and was doing other stuff along the way. And I think I got to a point in my career where I was, I'd say like ready for family, but it was more so absolutely sick of medicine. Really? Oh, couldn't. I just, I'd gone straight into uni from school. I'd gone straight from out of uni into a job. I mean, I remember when we would like swap specialties every four months in the first two years. My mum would be like, oh, so did you get like a half term? No, mum. Speaker 1 (9:56) I finished on a twilight Speaker 2 (9:57) at 2am and I'm on a day shift the next day in a new specialty. No such thing. We're not in Kansas anymore. So, you know, with no break. And then I did take a low commute after I finished where I just worked like here and there. And then I applied to specialty training. Then I've been in specialty training since then. So I've been sort of the last 10 years has been, well, 15 if you count medical school, which has been medicine. And I was... Did paediatric A &E kind of make you go, ooh? Well, Speaker 1 (10:22) no. No, no. Speaker 2 (10:24) Because Speaker 1 (10:25) they're poorly. You're not poorly, babe. Speaker 2 (10:26) But when you see a really well baby, you're like, oh, that's nice. But I've always liked babies anyway. So it wasn't that that was the turning point. It was the... I just liked babies anyway. To be fair, I would see babies and, like, fresh babies. And everyone hated the fresh babies because they're very scared of them. But I love them. Oh, the fresher the better. Speaker 1 (10:43) Were they scared of the fact that they were so fragile? Yeah, yeah, Speaker 2 (10:47) completely. But the thing is, and the way that I think with stuff at work, is people get frightened when people are really, really sick. Speaker 1 (10:53) I Speaker 2 (10:53) love that. Not that they're really, really sick. I want them to be better. Giving shit, man. But it's easy. When babies are really poorly, when a patient is really poorly, it's easy to know what to do with them. I actually find that more simple than, oh, actually, there's something not quite right here. What's going on? If they're super sick, there's algorithms and there's things that are easier to manage. And some people prefer the managing of uncertainty. They're like, well, I don't really know what's going on, but let's do this, let's do that. And I find that far more stressful, sort of GP land stuff, where you've got no investigations. You've got sort of, oh, something's a bit odd. what it kind of could be. I prefer the like, here's what's wrong. Here's how I can fix it kind of thing. But, but yeah, no, I, I, yeah, I got to the point where I was just ready to for a break from medicine. It coincided nicely with sort of the age I wanted to be having a baby quite like my boyfriend too. So that was kind of like an important part of it. We'd bought a house. So I was just a bit like, yeah. Speaker 1 (11:46) And did it happen quickly? Nothing on the Speaker 2 (11:47) telly. Do you know what it did? Did it? So much so that the day I actually found out I was pregnant on April Fool's Day, which was excellent. And I took the test only because my period should have arrived that day and I'm super, super regular. And we basically had sex once on a day where the app, I was looking at my cycles and figuring out when I was fertile. And it was the one, it was like the last day where I could be ovulating. I was like, oh, shall we? And he was like, oh, if we must. No, he was like, yes, please. Sexy times. Yes. So enthusiastic. And I was like, okay, why not? And then my period didn't come on that day. And so I took a test by myself. And it was one of the little strip ones. And it was so faintly positive. My boyfriend didn't believe me. And he was just like, I won't do the accent. He's German. It's a really good accent, though. And he was like, no, that doesn't look positive. And I was like, you can't tell him the doctor here. If I Speaker 1 (12:36) was Speaker 2 (12:36) in there, yeah. A faint positive is a positive. Because I also was a bit like, I didn't have any scares growing up when I was pregnant. Most because I just must have been completely butters. Speaker 1 (12:47) Got to get shagged to get pregnant. Speaker 2 (12:52) No, there's honestly, I got a fringe cut in when I was about 15. And it's her hate crime on hair. It's like three, it looks a bit like what I probably hear. It was like three strands of hair just plastered my forehead. I don't know what hairdresser did that to me. But I don't know. I'm furious at them. So it was no wonder I was getting no scares. So Speaker 1 (13:11) no scares. Also, though, that's the thing, right? So until you actually start trying, if Speaker 2 (13:16) you've had no Speaker 1 (13:16) scares, you don't even know if you can. Speaker 2 (13:18) No, this was it. And I was a bit like, oh, does this mean there's going to be... There was no reason why there should have been an issue. I had a very regular cycle, very no sort of issues there. But I've tried not to be online and be like... Yeah, it was really quick. Because I know it's hard. Because I spoke about breastfeeding being that I enjoyed breastfeeding and it had gone really well for me and that came down on me like a ton of bricks, which I didn't expect it to. So I think I'd have to be a bit measured in what I say. But equally, yeah, it did. It just, it happened really quickly, which was frightening in its own sense. Because like I say, I was then really worried about like, the only thing was I actually did do that I'm quite pleased about was there was a night out. I say night out. We'd all finished nights at the same time. So everyone went. out and I was a bit... Speaker 1 (13:55) So what do Speaker 2 (13:55) the Speaker 1 (13:55) doctors do when they leave you? Well when Speaker 2 (13:58) you're in the middle of Manchester the Wetherspoons is just around the corner you do unfortunately sometimes see a patient you have just discharged Speaker 2 (14:07) So you sort of just make sure you change out your scrubs. But I decided that day I wasn't going to drink. And I had one girl that I worked with, I had her sort of like... Speaker 1 (14:17) Okay. Speaker 2 (14:18) She knew I was trying to get pregnant. I don't want to be airing that to everyone. Because then they always imagine you shagging. I don't know, that's what I do. You tell me you're trying, I'm thinking about what it looks like. Speaker 1 (14:32) Not on purpose. Do you also have that response when someone tells you that they're actually pregnant? Do you then just Speaker 2 (14:37) picture Speaker 1 (14:37) them the fact that they have done it? Do you know what? The weirdest Speaker 2 (14:40) thing happens is my mind goes to like envision their uterus and I guess how pregnant I think they are and then I think about what the baby might look like. Speaker 1 (14:47) Okay, so less shagging on that one. Yeah, don't think about the Speaker 2 (14:50) shagging. But if people tell me that, like when I said to my mum that my boyfriend and I were trying, I'd hate to do that because I was like, I'm basically saying, mum, we're not using protection. I let him finish. Speaker 2 (15:03) I grabbed him with my legs and I didn't let go, Mum. Speaker 2 (15:08) Those leg knees, that's what it feels like, I'm saying. It's hideous, isn't it? So that's, yeah. I'm sweating now. I should put my tiny fringe away. It's getting stuck to my forehead. So Speaker 1 (15:19) when you did that test, seeing that positive, how did that make you feel? Speaker 2 (15:24) So it was the funniest thing, really. Looking at the positive test was just like, it just felt really normal. I was Speaker 1 (15:30) like, Speaker 2 (15:30) oh. And it was almost kind of funny. And it was just exciting as well. And I remember then, I don't think... I don't think I went into my boyfriend in the morning because he was still asleep because I was on an early shift. I think I kind of just went to work and I put my phone up in the car and filmed a bit being like, I think I might be pregnant, which icked me out saying I'm pregnant. I'm such a child. Stuff like pregnant, trying. I don't know. It gives myself the ick. I Speaker 1 (15:54) just love the