What is Birth Trauma and How is it Treated?
Birth trauma is a devastatingly common experience, with approximately thirty percent of birthing people noting their experience as traumatic. However, the term birth trauma can be unclear, and bring about confusion and uncertainty about what it actually means. So read on to learn about what birth trauma is and how to know if you are experiencing the impact of traumatic birth.
What is Birth Trauma?
So many moms question whether their birth was actually traumatic. Often, there can be minimizing the experience with statements like, Well everyone is okay, it could have been worse. Trauma is an overwhelming experience that becomes stuck in your body.
Symptoms of Birth Trauma:
You actively avoid thinking about your birthing experience
You have intrusive images or memories about your traumatic birth experience
You have physical reactions when thinking about your birth experience (e.g. sweating, shaking, crying, etc.)
You feel shame, guilt, blame, or other negative emotions related to your birth
You have trouble connecting with your baby or feeling positively
Do I Have Birth Trauma?
Labor and delivery is such a vulnerable time, where so much can happen that feels unplanned, unpredictable, and scary.
Trauma can happen when:
There is a threat to life and/or safety
Things feel out of control
There is a lack of support
What Causes Birth Trauma?
Again, trauma is really subjective. What is traumatic to one person may not feel traumatic to another. Trusting how you feel toward your birth and knowing that your experience is valid is so important.
Experiences That Can Increase the Chance of Developing Birth Trauma Include:
Preterm labor
Unmanaged pain
Emergency C-Section
Birth Complications
Postpartum Complications
NICU Stay
Feeling unsafe or unsupported by care team
Having a past history of trauma
Treatments for Birth Trauma
Birth trauma can significantly impact how you feel about yourself, your baby, others, and even the world at large. If you are struggling with the effects of birth trauma, there are treatments available to help you on your healing journey. Particularly, working with a trauma therapist (like an EMDR therapist) can be largely beneficial in processing your experiences.
EMDR for Birth Trauma
EMDR is an effective therapeutic approach for treating birth trauma. For the basics of EMDR, check out this blog.
During EMDR for birth trauma you will:
Discuss your present symptoms and goals
Build up resources you can use to manage distress and support you during reprocessing
Identify negative beliefs, symptoms, and the experiences that reinforce them (including your birth trauma)
Reprocess your target memories that you identified during the previous step
Work through any present or future triggers
