Birth Trauma Counselling

There can be all sorts of reasons you can feel trauma following the birth of the baby.

Whether you prepare for a birth on your own or with someone, it is often the case that you plan for that birth. You, or you and your partner, most likely attended antenatal classes, read around the subject and heard stories from friends and family. Consequently, you had an idea or even a firm plan of how you wanted the birth to be experienced.

However, the birth may not go according to the plan and it can be the case that the experience of giving birth leaves the woman and / or her partner traumatised. Birth Trauma Counselling help you to cope with the emotions that follow when the unexpected happens.

What are the Reasons for Birth Trauma:

It may be that:

There is a death of a child either before, during or immediately after birth
There is a near death experience for the woman and / or the child
A medical intervention was needed that you did not want or expect
You have sustained an injury because of giving birth
Your birth plan, for a variety of reasons, was not followed
The birth took place in an unexpected location
One or both of you feel traumatised by the birth, even if it was a ‘routine delivery’, sometimes just the overwhelming nature of childbirth can leave one or both of you feeling traumatised

Other Contributing Factors for Birth Trauma:

Your relationship prior to experiencing the birth will have an impact on how you react to and manage a birth trauma
How you experienced your partner during the pregnancy and birth
Distressing events outside of your pregnancy and birth e.g. with family or work
Financial worries

Loss and Birth Trauma

Experiencing one or more of these scenarios during birth means that you experience a loss. Whether that is the literal loss of a child, or the loss of a sense of security in a person, the medical profession or your beliefs about your body, or your plans for the birth and / or the future.

You and or your partner can experience a shocking loss of a sense of safety, security and confidence in yourself, another and the world around you.

For both individuals in a couple, birth is an experience where you can feel a great sense of helplessness or a sense of not being listened to.

PTSD Because of Birth Trauma

In some instances, being part of, or witnessing a traumatic birth can leave you with post-traumatic stress disorder. This is where physical symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares or unwanted memories occur following the trauma and leave you feeling as though you are consistently reliving the trauma repeatedly. Counselling for coping with PTSD can help to overcome these symptoms.

How Can Counselling for Birth Trauma Help?

Birth Trauma Counselling is a space where, through use of a therapeutic relationship, you can begin to work through, process and understand the trauma that you have been through.

This works means that, over time, the trauma stops having the power and impact over you that it feels it does at present.

Counselling is also a safe and confidential space where you can speak freely, without judgement, away from loved ones about what you are feeling in relation to the birth experience you have had and the loss and grief you are experiencing.

If needed, counselling for birth trauma can also provide you with tools and techniques to manage and challenge trauma reactions such as flashbacks, anxiety or panic attacks.