When Child Birth Gets Complicated
How Child Birth Can Take a Turn From a Happy Event to a Traumatic One and How to Find Help
(Trigger Warning) The news is exciting and welcome, you are pregnant! Your partner, family and friends are celebrating and all are filled with anticipation for the arrival of the baby! Pregnancy has it’s challenges but with each passing day you are closer to meeting your baby. Plans are developed, dreams and expectation for the perfect birth are made, nurseries are decorated and prepared, the crib is assembled and before you know it the day is here.
According to Cheryl Tatano Beck in her book Traumatic Childbirth, birth trauma is defined as:
“an event occurring during the labor and delivery process that involves actual or threatened serious injury or death to the mother or her infant. The birthing woman experiences intense fear, helplessness, loss of control and horror” Beck more recently included “an event occurring during labor and delivery where the woman perceives she is stripped of her dignity.
According to PATTCh , research is minimal but there is a consensus of between 25% - 34% or 1 in 7 women report they had a traumatic births experience. It is important to note that not all go on to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, thankfully.
Theme 1: “To care for me: Was that too much to ask?”
Women in labor report that they felt abandoned and alone. There is a feeling of loss of dignity. Even embarrassment when disparaged by busy or burnt out staff.
Theme 2: “To communicate with me: Why was this neglected?”
Lack of communication from medical staff when looking for information about what is happening or a lack of being heard or ignored by medical staff when mom sets a limit or asks for something.
Theme 3: “To provide safe care: You betrayed my trust and I felt powerless.”
Mom or birth partner perceive unsafe care or feared for theirs and/or their baby’s safety.
Theme 4: “The ends justifies the means” At whose expense? At what price?”
Felt that their traumatic experience was dismissed due to the successful birth of a healthy baby.
Risk Factors that contribute to feeling a birth experience is traumatic:
Pregnancy and birth complications; unexpected or otherwise
Feeling unheard or humiliated
Injury to mom and/or baby; immediate or long-term
Lack of sleep
Prior depression, anxiety or PTSD history
Lack of support before, during and after birth from birth staff, family and friends
Isolation
NICU stay for baby/premature birth
Miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss
There is Help
Things you can do on your own:
Enlist help from family and friends with baby care as well as meals, housework and a non-judgmental ear
Join a peer support group
If possible find time for self care
Ground yourself through meditation, yoga/breathe work or grounding exercises like the alphabet game (A is for apple, B is for banana etc, holding an ice cube or naming things you see in the room…….
Practice Mindfulness
When would I need extra help?
If you are not getting better or your symptoms are getting worse ie you can’t get out of bed, care for yourself or the baby, having fits of rage, having panic attacks or daily crying spells.
If you want to hurt yourself or your baby
If you are having flashbacks, nightmares or intrusive thoughts regularly and you don’t have a way to manage them
Where do I go to get help?
You can talk to your OB, NP or GP and they maybe able to direct you towards a prescriber, psychotherapist and/or clinician led support group.
There are medications that are safe and you and your prescriber can decide if medication is right for you and your symptoms.
There are psychotherapist that have experience with pre/postpartum issues and have a concentration in birth trauma. They utilize therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Interpersonal Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) to alleviate symptoms. In addition, trauma focused skills will be taught along with mindfulness. There are also psychotherapists, hospitals or agencies that run clinician run support groups that provide psychoeducation, skills as well as group support with other parents who have experienced birth trauma.
You can find providers in your area through sites like Post Partum Support International or a Google search for therapists who specialize in birth trauma or pregnancy, post partum issues.
In addition to PostPartum Support International here is some helpful resources:
TABS: TRAUMA AND BIRTH STRESS – tabs.org.nz
Solace for Mothers – solaceformothers.org
What is Birth Trauma?, The Birth Trauma Association
In the Eye of the Expert: An Interview with Cheryl Beck, Science & Sensibility
Healing the Trauma: Entering Motherhood with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Midwifery Today
Help For a Traumatic Delivery and Postpartum Depression, Huffington Post
The Mothers Who Can’t Escape the Trauma of Childbirth, The Atlantic
Birth trauma: in the eye of the beholder, Research Abstract
A mixed methods study of secondary traumatic stress in labor and delivery nurses, Research Abstracy