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Birth Trauma
While birth is usually a joyous and eagerly anticipated event, it's estimated that one-third of women find some aspect of their birth experience traumatic. Additionally, about 1 in 25 women develop PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after giving birth. It's important to note that birth trauma doesn't always lead to a PTSD diagnosis. A woman can be deeply traumatised by her birth experience without meeting all the formal criteria for PTSD.
It's not necessarily the type of birth that causes trauma, but rather how the woman perceives the experience. Factors such as feeling ignored, having concerns minimized, or experiencing criticism, judgment, or humiliation can significantly contribute to feelings of trauma. Fearing for their own life or their baby’s life can also play a crucial role. Previous traumatic experiences can make a woman more susceptible to a traumatic birth experience.
It's important to recognise that birth trauma can extend beyond the mother. It can be related to events before or after the birth and can also affect birth partners, families, and healthcare professionals who witness the birth. Empathy and understanding for everyone involved are essential in supporting those who have been affected by birth trauma.
Symptoms of Birth Trauma
Self blame, shame and anger about the birth event
Nightmares or intrusive thoughts related to the period of birthing
Feeling irritable, jumpy or agitated
Avoiding conversation or reminders of the birth
Experiencing flashbacks
Noticeable changes in mood
An experience is considered 'traumatic' in psychological terms if thinking or talking about it evokes distress and fear in the person to whom it happened. A woman or her partner might be affected by these events for a day, a week, a month, or even years. These symptoms can cause significant distress, impacting their ability to be a parent and their relationships with their baby, partner, family, and friends.
Somatic experiencing works with the body sensations that linger after a traumatic experience. These sensations are linked to interrupted or incomplete survival actions commonly known as fight, flight, and freeze, as well as the thoughts, beliefs, and emotions associated with them. By addressing these body sensations, we can access the subconscious brain and work to complete these thwarted survival mechanisms, helping the nervous system return to balance and coherence rather than being stuck in a trauma response.
This method offers a gentle and non-threatening way to work with trauma. We can focus on body sensations without delving into detailed discussions about the traumatic experience, which can be distressing and retraumatising. The process is guided, in a controlled manner, ensuring the client does not become overwhelmed or distressed.
The number of sessions needed varies, depending on the pace of work, whether the event was a one-time occurrence or part of a history of trauma. Sometimes clients may want to take a break and return later, while other times a few sessions are enough to achieve some relief and help the client feel balanced.