This article first appeared in The Conversation. Ceri Wilson is a senior research fellow in mental health at Anglia Ruskin University.I hope sharing my story will help women who may be struggling themselves. I will forever be changed by my birth experience. Improving the quality of maternal care is essential as not being listened to or treated with compassion is a direct contributor to birth trauma.Īddressing issues of underfunding, staff shortages, burnt-out staff and poor accountability in health systems will also help improve maternal care. While bringing greater awareness to birth trauma will help more women get the help they need, reducing actual incidences of traumatic births will require change to be made at all levels of care. AimTo define and analyze the concept of psychological birth trauma.DesignThe concept analysis method of Walker and Avant was used. Only after this specialist support do I feel I am now recovering. After our sessions together had ended, she assessed me for birth trauma.ĭue to my levels of trauma, I then had 12 weeks of trauma therapy, beginning just before my son’s first birthday. I got to see a psychologist specialising in parent and infant bonding, who helped to grow my confidence as a mother and strengthen my relationship with my son. A perinatal mental health nurse kept in regular contact with me and sought out relevant support. My community midwife noticed I was struggling, and referred me to a specialist perinatal mental health team. I didn’t know it was possible to feel such intense despair and anger, and to lose trust in and feel unsafe around even those closest to me. The negative emotions I experienced in the year after my son’s birth were like nothing I’d experienced before. These caused me to have physical and emotional reactions and flashbacks. Hyperarousal Insomnia, difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep Frequent outbursts of anger or irritability Lack of concentration Hypervigilance. My newborn’s crying was a trigger – as was physical touch I hadn’t initiated. I’ve had to revisit the hospital where I gave birth for ongoing care.

$signs of birth trauma$

I’d sit in silence, soaked in sweat.Īvoiding reminders of birth has been impossible. When I came around, I felt disoriented, my chest heavy. My husband would try to reassure me, but even showing me our son didn’t help. I had night terrors, where I would “wake” screaming, frantically searching for my son – convinced he was trapped in the duvet. Nightmares, upsetting memories, or flashbacks of your birthing experience Intense emotions such as fear, guilt, powerlessness Hyperarousal symptoms include. Flashbacks of being wheeled hurriedly out of the labour ward during the gas leak, medical equipment balanced on me as we overtook a woman hobbling to safety with her newborn.įlashbacks of being lifted onto the operating table while screaming in agony, surrounded by hospital staff. Not all women who experience a traumatic birth will develop PTSD.Īnd while certain risk factors appear to increase its likelihood – such as poor social support and previous depression and trauma – it can happen to anyone. In the months after giving birth, I had all the symptoms of postnatal PTSD.

Signs of birth trauma