Birth trauma and recovery

However, it is common for parents who call PANDA’s Helpline, to tell us they had a complicated or even traumatic birthing experience.

WE KNOW THAT UP TO 1 IN 3 MUMS EXPERIENCE THE BIRTH OF THEIR BABY AS TRAUMATIC.

This trauma can result from what happens during labour and childbirth. It can also be a result of how you feel about your birthing experience.

During your birth, you may have:

• Experienced pain or physical stress while giving birth.
• Experienced emotional distress while giving birth.
• Required medical intervention (any actions taken by your medical team if your baby’s health or your own is at risk).
• Felt shocked and unprepared for these sensations, feelings and interventions.
• Felt powerless, hurt, sad, abandoned, or frightened.
• Felt disrespected, unheard, or disregarded during the birth by healthcare providers, partners, or support people.
• Feared for the safety of yourself or your baby during the labour or birth. 
• Felt confused about the birth process and what was happening.
• Had a birth plan, but your birth experience was different from the birth you expected or hoped for.
• Had inadequate pain relief.
• Experienced ongoing physical complications from birth.

TRAUMA IS AN INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE

Trauma is not always connected to physical pain, medical interventions or injury.

It’s common for parents and their partners to describe their labour as ‘normal’, even if they are left with confusing, ongoing symptoms such as anxiety or low mood. 

On the other hand, not everyone who experiences a medical emergency or intervention experiences their birth as traumatic.

We know the emotional impact of the birth process can sometimes be overlooked within the medical system. Some parents may feel that their physical health receives a lot of attention while their emotional wellbeing may not be addressed to the same degree. Many parents end up pushing difficult feelings aside.

If you’re finding it difficult to process your birthing experience or the birth felt distressing, your feelings are valid.

The way you feel about the whole experience can deeply affect your emotional wellbeing and mental health, attachment and bonding with your baby, and how you feel about being a parent.

BIRTH TRAUMA DOESN’T JUST AFFECT THE BIRTHING PARENT

Babies can also be impacted by a traumatic birth. The use of tools to assist the birth, or traumatic events can be distressing for the baby and leave physical marks or injury. 

We also know that partners and other support people can feel traumatised by witnessing a traumatic birth. They may find it difficult to watch their loved one and their baby experiencing distress while birthing. They may feel powerless and unable or unsure of how to help their loved one. Partners also report feeling excluded from decision making and may feel overlooked or disregarded by medical and support teams. 

Health care providers also commonly report the impacts of witnessing a traumatic birth on their emotional wellbeing. They may feel helpless or stressed by the situation. We encourage healthcare providers to discuss any distressing experiences with their supervisors. Health care providers can access free secondary consultation by calling the PANDA Helpline.

WHAT DOES BIRTH TRAUMA LOOK/FEEL LIKE?

Parents may experience birth trauma as:

• Feelings of disappointment, shame, anger, or grief.
• Lack of confidence in their ability to birth, and to parent.
• ‘Hypervigilance’, or intense preoccupation with the baby’s health.
• Teary, low mood, tired. See signs of perinatal depression.
• Feelings of failure.
• Flashbacks to the birth.
• Avoiding people and places that remind them of the birth. This can include avoiding interacting with baby and missing postnatal healthcare appointments.
• Brain fog or feeling unable to remember what happened during the birth.
• Severe anxiety and panic attacks.
• Physical pain and injury.
• Difficulty bonding with their baby.
• Increased use of alcohol and other drugs.
• Feeling overwhelmed while parenting, for example feeding, settling and sleep challenges.
• Self-harm and suicide thoughts and behaviours.

FACTORS THAT MAY INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF EXPERIENCING BIRTH TRAUMA

Birth trauma can affect anyone. However, some personal life experiences and external factors may increase the likelihood of birth trauma occurring.

These include:

• Previous experience/s of birth trauma (birthing and non-birthing parents).
• Social factors, including the level of support you receive from your partner, family and/or healthcare providers during labour.
• Previous perinatal loss including stillbirth, miscarriage and death of a young baby - also known as neonatal death. It’s common for parents with a history of perinatal loss to experience increased anxiety about subsequent pregnancies and birth experiences too.
• Previous sexual abuse – some aspects of labour or giving birth may be traumatic for survivors.
• History of trauma.
• Anxious tendencies prior to the pregnancy and birth.

These are just some of the major contributing factors. There may be others that impacted how you felt during and after your birth experience. Any fear you feel for yourself or your baby’s wellbeing, feeling dismissed or having your concerns minimised can be very traumatic.

If you find yourself experiencing high anxiety, stress, panic, sleep disturbances or flashbacks in response to triggers that remind you of the birth (e.g. newborn babies, hospitals, doctors, face masks) you may be experiencing symptoms of PTSD.

Treating PTSD requires specialist mental health care. If you find yourself experiencing any difficult or distressing feelings, it’s important to seek advice from PANDA or a trusted healthcare provider as soon as possible.