Videos by American Songwriter
Meghan Trainor is a resilient “Mother” with a story to tell. The platinum-selling artist opens up about motherhood, the birth of her first child Riley, and postpartum PTSD in a forthcoming book titled, Dear Future Mama.
After welcoming home her son with Spy Kids actor and husband, Daryl Sabara – the 29-year-old pop star vocalized her terrifying birth story that left the tight-knit family in the neonatal intensive unit for several days. Trainor delivered Riley via cesarean section in February of 2021.
During an exclusive interview with TODAY, Trainor explained that her son struggled with his breathing for the first couple of days. The singer-songwriter also revealed that she was disappointed in the delivery.
“When they were like, ‘C-section,’ because baby Riley was breach, I was like, ‘Oh, do I have to be awake?’ It was the scariest,” Trainor told Hoda Kotb on Monday, April 24. “I felt like I was jumping out of a plane. The whole time, I was just with my husband shaking. I was just like, surrender…Truly, you lose control, and it’s all right. We’ll get through this, And we did. We survived.”
Ever since the intimidating procedure, Trainor mentioned that she struggled with postpartum PTSD. Once she brought Riley home, the singer pointed out that she would often feel the horrific pain she endured during the C-section—flagging concern. She told Kotb that she turned to medical professionals for help.
“I was like, ‘It’s so weird.’ To my therapist and my doctors, I was like, ‘It’s like I’m back in the room,'” Trainor shared. “At nighttime, when the pain would kick in, I was like … ‘I’m still on the table.”
After expressing her concerns, the doctors diagnosed the hitmaker with post-traumatic stress disorder. According to Postpartum Support International, 9% of women experience the same symptoms following childbirth. Other signs include—flashbacks, nightmares of childbirth, feeling a sense of unreality or detachment, and more.
“They were like, ‘So we have to work through this. That’s a sign of PTSD,'” recalled the artist. “I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that.'”
Trainor mentioned that talking through her experience in therapy has benefited her health and has made her feel less alone.
“Once I talked about it and realized, ‘Oh, that wasn’t awesome,’ it helped break it down,” uttered the Trainor. “I had a C-section that was wild, and it wasn’t like a fairy tale birth, but I got a fairy tale baby. I got a dream baby, and I was like, even if you go through all that, you can still have a perfect baby.”
Despite her chilling birth story, the GRAMMY Award winner is seven months pregnant with her second child. Trainor has yet to reveal the gender of the baby. Before the “Made You Look” singer welcomes her newborn this summer with Sabara, she will release her guide to parenthood – Dear Future Mama.
The paperback will be available for purchase on April 25.
Photo by Ryan Trainor / BB Gun Press
