A 29-year-old mother of four, Madison Rei, has shared her experience after losing most of her hearing shortly after giving birth to her fourth child.
Madison said she initially believed the problem was connected to hormonal changes after childbirth and expected her hearing to return to normal. However, the condition continued to worsen and soon began affecting almost every part of her daily life.
She said:
“I couldn’t hear my baby if she cried.
“I had to be in the room with her, watching her, at all times when my partner wasn’t home
“I was terrified.
“I thought of losing my hearing completely and never getting to hear my children’s voices again.
“I thought of not being able to work and what that would mean for my family.”
Madison, who has children aged nine, eight, six and 18 months, said she had a normal and low-risk pregnancy before giving birth to her youngest child in February 2025.
However, just a few days after giving birth, she noticed something unusual.
She recalled:
“A few days postpartum I was sitting on the couch and suddenly heard this super loud ringing in my ears.
“I Google’d it immediately and decided it was a normal, temporary postpartum symptom that can stem from hormones.
“But it didn’t go away and I started noticing significant hearing loss.
“I was having trouble hearing my kids. I would have to be right next to them and try to read their lips in order to understand what they were saying.
“My older children became aware pretty quickly that they needed to walk up to me, tap my shoulder, and look at me when they spoke to me.
“They were great at that, and I was so grateful.
“But even then, there were many times when they repeated themselves several times and I still couldn’t understand.
“It took a huge amount of energy to try and understand what everyone needed, and it was all very draining.
“It affected every aspect of life.”
As her hearing continued to deteriorate, Madison began changing the way she went about her everyday activities.