S. Abbas Shobeiri, S. Abbas Shobeiri, MD, MBA: Cosm Medical: Advisor (Terminated, May 31, 2023)
Shobeiri asked himself how to advocate for his patients who felt alone and abandoned. He had two tools. He was a surgeon and a painter. Over the years, countless mothers told, Shobeiri, a physician specializing in women's pelvic floor trauma, the same stories, proving the authenticity of their shared experiences. Shobeiri realized that these sensitive, intimate, personal, and heartbreaking stories signified where a patient was psychologically in the grief recovery cycle because of Childbirth-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD-C). Each time Shobeiri listened to a patient's story, the emotions imprinted heavily on his soul. Just like the patients' medical problems floated in his head until a solution was found, the vision of the stories came to him like the ripples of waves on the ocean. He was satisfied when he found an outlet in a painting that accurately conveyed patients' meanings. He appreciated that the stories were born from tears and blood belonging to the patients and had to be retold authentically in paint. To convey the mothers' stories, the artist often chooses a large format to draw the viewer into the postpartum world. Shobeiri's mothers, in his paintings, are often alone, inviting the viewer to join them for their shared stories. The mothers and the viewers work together in silence through various healing stages. Chronicling the new mothers' journey is not a responsibility Shobeiri has taken lightly. Each painting is carefully thought through to fulfill its role in advocating for the mothers.
Learning Objectives:
Understand how undiagnosed levator trauma results in long-term psychological trauma.
Understand the stages of grief a new mother goes through after the loss of pelvic floor functions.
Understand how to advocate for your patients with all the tools you have.
