Meet Liana Lindgren

Emerald Coach at The Confident Mom

On the day my daughter was born, I almost died. Literally. My baby would be whisked away from me out of the OR to the NICU. I would be left alone with doctors and nurses I’d never met before. I would start to bleed out in recovery. And I would begin struggling with post-partum PTSD, depression and anxiety.

After the flurry of sedatives, blood, nurses, doctors and my tearful midwife holding my hand through it all. I would come to find myself on post-partum bedrest, with tubes coming out of every possible location. My delivery nurse casually mentioning that I would probably have PTSD and that I should just deliver my next baby by planned c-section. “Next baby?” I thought “I haven’t even seen my first baby yet!” 8 hours later, sobbing, I asked if I could finally hold my baby.

I felt like a total failure for not being able to hold her immediately after she was born.

I felt guilty that her first meal came from a bottle, not from me.

I was angry that the doctors had ignored my pleads for a c-section for hours, as I pushed fruitlessly and became exhausted.

I was in tremendous physical pain - barely able to walk, it would take me 10-15 minutes to walk the short hallway to NICU to see my baby.

The guilt, the anger, the sadness, the pain - physical and emotional - consumed me. I felt like I had failed my child, my husband and myself. The doctors I saw brushed off my concerns and feelings as just another case of “baby blues”. When I brought up the physical changes, the doctor told me I was “just too small down there” and ignored several of my symptoms.

With the help of my midwife and a public health nurse, I was able to start therapy and medication, and that helped, but a year later, I still felt like something was missing. I was happier, but still suffered dissociation (you know, that feeling that you’re super-imposed on the world, not really a part of it) and flashbacks. The happiness felt like a thin shell that could easily crack after a bad moment. A therapist recommended doing something very physical everytime I started to fade out. I would hold ice cubes in my hands until the pain brought me back to reality, where I continued to move through life still somewhat detached from my husband and child. I would break down over the slightest things. I was emotionally spent.

I went to specialized physical therapists to help with the pelvic floor issues - that got intimate pretty fast.

I felt like I no longer had control over anything in my life.

The simplest tasks took enormous effort. Adding a baby on top of it? I felt like I was drowning and that I would never be “normal” again.


In 2015, after reading several studies on how nutrition and fitness can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety. I thought, “If I could work on those two issues, that can only help me work on my PTSD.” I finally decided to take an opportunity for self-care through at-home fitness and nutrition. The routine gave me a sense of control over my inner turmoil. I started to feel happier, healthier, stronger and more confident in my abilities as a mom.

One week into my new routine, my friends and family started asking me what I was doing differently - I seemed to be “glowing”. My husband hugged me and said that he hadn’t seen me REALLY smile in almost two years and it was so good to have me back! I finally started LAUGHING - REALLY LAUGHING - with my daughter!

If you have been desperately trying to heal after birth and the anxiety and depression that accompany it and are ready to take control of what feels like an out of control situation.

If you’ve tried therapy and medication, but it doesn’t feel like enough.

If you’re ready to take care of yourself, so that you can step into your power as MOM

Then let’s work TOGETHER as you continue to rise out of the depression and anxiety and find your best self.