Birth trauma occurs when experiences during or related to childbirth cause overwhelming physical or emotional distress.

• It’s important to know that the same experience might be traumatic for one person and not traumatic for another person, for many different reasons. What matters is if you perceive an experience as traumatic.

Birth trauma is common. 1 in 3 birthing people report their birth experience as traumatic, and 17% of birthing people have trauma symptoms after birth.

Birth trauma disproportionately affects Black women and birthing people due to racism.

Examples of birth experiences that can be traumatic include an emergency c-section, an unplanned episiotomy, overwhelming pain, fetal distress, and separation from your baby if they have to go to the NICU.

Common themes across traumatic birth experiences are feeling a loss of control and feeling abandoned or alone.

Some people also experience mistreatment by the medical team or obstetric violence, including disrespecting your rights as a patient and individual autonomy.

Upsetting memories, dreams, or flashbacks

Irritability

Difficulty concentrating

Difficulty sleeping

Hyper-vigilance (always being “on alert” for potential threats, even when you’re in a safe place)

Dissociation, spacing out

Avoiding reminders of your traumatic experience

Feeling very upset if you can’t avoid reminders of your traumatic experience

Feeling triggered refers to a surge of trauma symptoms or distress that happens when you are reminded of a traumatic experience.

Many different situations can end up being triggering if you have experienced birth trauma, even situations that you might not expect. 

• Follow-up medical appointments with your OB/GYN or other provider

• Pelvic floor physical therapy

• Interacting with your baby

• Being separated from your baby, even if they are with someone you trust

Childbirth itself can be triggering if you have experienced other types of trauma in your past, including sexual assault. 

You can feel triggered many years after the initial experience; there’s no time limit.

In the moment, it can be helpful to bring yourself back to the present - grounding exercises can remind your mind and body that you are not in that traumatic memory, but (hopefully) in a safe environment in the present. One example of a grounding exercise is 5-4-3-2-1: Name five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. 

If you would like more support in processing your birth, therapy can help. We offer Narrative Exposure Therapy here at Secure Start, which is a brief evidence-based trauma-focused therapy.