Childbirth is one of the biggest life events that we will ever experience, yet many moms feel like they had little control over how their birth turned out. Maybe you feel like you prepared for your birth by reading books and taking classes but yet your birth didn’t go anything like you imagined. You may be blaming your body or yourself for what happened. You’re not alone. Current research shows that about 1 in 4 women experience a traumatic birth. Because our culture associates birth with fear and pain, some women may experience their birth as “normal” even when what they experienced may have been traumatic.

Birth Trauma Symptoms

Trauma can be defined as event that is overwhelming leading to an elevated and prolonged fear response in the body, making it difficult to integrate the event into our life narrative. Signs and symptoms of trauma include

• negative changes in thinking and mood including feelings of depression and anxiety

• intrusive memories and/or nightmares

• avoidance behaviors such as avoiding thinking or talking about birth

  Factors that contribute to a birth being experienced as traumatic include:

• loss of control and power during labor or birth

• an overwhelming experience of pain and fear

• violation of your body

• loss of voice and/or autonomy

• lack of trust in your body and/or caregiver

• feeling unsafe

• feeling alone or isolated

• fear of death or perceived harm to self or baby