What you need to know about birth trauma

If you just had a baby or had a baby at some point in your life where the birth was less than ideal or horrifying this article is for you. Birth trauma happens for 1 in 3 women. Yes it is that common. Yes this is something that needs to be spoken about more frequently so that mothers do not experience that isolating shame and devastation. Listen,

you are not alone. You are not alone.

It is not your fault. It is not your fault.

In this post, unpacking trauma, we will discuss what birth trauma is, things you might expect and a few tools to cope.

To start what is birth trauma? There is the physical side including perineal tears and nerve damage or physical issues with baby but for the sake of this post we are going to focus on the emotional, mental and psychological trauma.

“According to the American Psychiatric Association, birth-related PTSD affects around 17% of postpartum parents. A person can find a birth traumatic for many reasons. It could be that they experienced prolonged pain or the infant experienced a drop in heart rate that resulted in an emergency cesarean delivery. Having a newborn spend time in intensive care can also be traumatic. These experiences could cause feelings that do not disappear, even after everyone involved is safe and well. Individuals may experience severe anxiety, flashbacks of the event, or physical responses such as a racing heartbeat or sweating.”

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/birth-trauma#ptsd

People who think they have PTSD should speak with a healthcare professional who can help them get the treatment they need to feel better. Postpartum PTSD increase risk for postpartum panic attacks, postpartum OCD and postpartum anxiety.

Were you left feeling terrified or agentless, helpless or out of control during the birth of your baby. Were there unforeseen complications? If yes to any of these keep reading.

Maybe you feel in shock postpartum or you are reeling AND trying to look after an infant. Everyone is telling you you should be grateful, etc. but maybe you are not feeling okay at all.

So what to expect. This experience is very unique to the individual and their experiences, however, there are some commonalities typically experienced. 1) increased feelings of anxiety, anger, or feeling on edge 2) racing heart, sweating and/or physical pain. 3) withdrawal or disconnection from others, isolation. 4) feeling like you have failed or are a bad mom. 5) re-occurring images or flashbacks. 6) restlessness or difficulty relaxing.

Please know that this list is by no means exhaustive but just reflects some common symptoms moms experiencing post birth trauma share.

Now the final step is to give you several tools for your tool box. Here is one. This is a somatic grounding exercise to sooth your shattered and fragmented nerves and emotions:

Another is to give yourself permission to hold space for your pain. We live in a society where you are just supposed to be okay and plunge forward headlong into life regardless of how much you are suffering. Well this is not how we function as humans. Just like your body needs time and space to heal so does your nervous system, mind and emotions. Schedule a time every day where you sit with the pain breathing deeply and listening to your thoughts with compassion. Ideally you are able to do this for 5 minutes while someone else has the baby.

One final thing is to remember that your nervous system has been dysregulated so you will have to calm and sooth yourself like you would your baby with rocking and breathing. Breathe out pain and struggle and breathe in acceptance/peace/compassion.

Remember to be patient with yourself this is a process and please reach out to a caring perinatal mental health professional. To work through the pain and struggle and find ways to move towards feeling safe and secure.

Hope this helps. Sending a big hug to all you Mommas.