When can birth trauma happen? Rethinking what we see as birth trauma

There’s a common misconception out there that the term “birth trauma” speaks to trauma that is experienced from labour and/or birth only.

This misconception prevents many women from seeking support, particularly when their trauma occurred during conception, pregnancy or in their postpartum period.

Because these periods don’t have a ‘trauma label’ the traumatic events within them can go unseen or be dismissed.

This can create flow-on challenges for people as they try to heal from their birth trauma experience.

So, what is ‘birth trauma’ and when can it happen?

Within my work, ‘birth trauma’ is all-inclusive.

That means birth trauma can be experienced at any point, including conception, pregnancy, labour, birth, postpartum, parenting, and loss.

This is also how I support and teach other perinatal professionals to understand birth trauma – as an all-inclusive term to describe an event that has caused that individual to experience intense feelings of horror, terror, hopelessness or helplessness in any aspect of their birth.

For some, this event can be something that occurs during childbirth, for example: feeling dismissed by caregivers, unnecessary interventions or lack of communication from staff, or physical injury to the mother or baby. This event could also occur around the birth and include experiences of uncontrollability of events, difficulties during conception and pregnancy, admission to NICU, premature birth….

Another way to look at and understand trauma, is that it has less to do with what happens to us or the specific event that has taken place.

Instead, it’s about what happens inside of us as a result of what’s happened to us on the outside – trauma is the internal response from our nervous system when it is overwhelmed with the perception of threat.

If there is any perceived threat, then our nervous system can see that or respond to that as a real threat.

Who does birth trauma affect?

Birth trauma is subjective, personal and perceived, and it’s because of this that it can affect anyone… mothers, fathers, witnessing caregivers, even those who have been told about the events that took place.

In Australia, 1 in 3 mothers experience their birth as traumatic. Fathers report subsequently feeling distressed and preoccupied with the birth events but tended to feel that their responses were unjustified and tried to cope through avoidance. They described the need for support but face reluctance to reach out or receive it.

How can birth trauma be resolved?

There are different types of therapy treatments available for the processing of birth trauma. Because trauma is stored in the body, it’s important that this is attended to in counselling, by a trained trauma therapist.

However, you don’t need to be a trauma therapist in order to be trauma-responsive in supporting someone as they explore the pathways towards trauma healing.

How to support individuals who have experienced birth trauma

Do you encounter birth trauma in your work? Maybe you’ve noticed a need for greater support for those touched by birth trauma?

As perinatal health and support professionals, there is so much that you can do to support an individual who has experienced birth trauma.

And, due to the prevalence of perinatal trauma, it’s so important that ALL perinatal professionals have the tools and understanding to be able to work with trauma (within the scope of their practice).

Simple and consistent trauma-responsive actions can support someone before they’ve made the decision to seek out therapy.

If you’re a perinatal professional and you want to take a step closer to becoming trauma-responsive in your care, my free download will get you started with 5 simple, actionable tips to set strong foundations in responding to trauma.  Download it here.