Honoring Mothers and Healing Wounds: Birth Trauma Awareness Week
For many, childbirth is described as miraculous and life-changing, but for others, it can also be deeply traumatic. As we recognize Birth Trauma Awareness Week, it’s essential to bring compassionate attention to the emotional, psychological, and physical toll that birth trauma can leave behind.
What Is Birth Trauma?
Birth trauma refers to physical or psychological injuries sustained during or after childbirth. While some trauma results from medical emergencies or complications, others arise from how a person was treated, whether they felt unheard, unsafe, or powerless during the birth process.
According to the Birth Trauma Association (2021), up to 30% of women describe their births as traumatic, and 9% go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childbirth (Ayers, 2004; Grekin & O'Hara, 2014). Traumatic births can affect future pregnancies, parent-infant bonding, and a mother’s mental health long after delivery.
The Psychological Impact
Symptoms of birth trauma often mirror those of PTSD and may include:
Intrusive memories or flashbacks
Avoidance of reminders of the birth (e.g., hospital settings)
Hypervigilance or emotional numbing
Anxiety, panic, or depression
Feelings of failure or guilt
Some mothers also experience grief, disconnection from their baby, or difficulties breastfeeding, compounding their distress in silence.
Why Birth Trauma Often Goes Unspoken
In a culture that idealizes birth and motherhood, many women feel pressure to be grateful, even when their experiences were painful or frightening. This can lead to shame, isolation, or fear of being judged as "ungrateful" or "dramatic." But every birth story matters, and acknowledging trauma is the first step toward healing.
We Are Here to Hold Space
At Well Mind Body, we hold space for every story, including those that didn’t go as planned. I’m particularly passionate about working with mothers who have experienced birth trauma, not only because of my training as a trauma-informed therapist, but because I’ve lived it, too.
As a mom of three, I’ve learned so much along the way. Each of my births reshaped me in profound ways. Some moments were joyful, empowering, and exhilarating and others were deeply traumatic. I’ve sat in the tension of beauty and grief, and I know many mothers do, too.
I’m deeply committed to helping women find peace and power in their stories. Whether your birth was joyful, traumatic, or somewhere in between, you deserve to be seen, heard, and supported.
How Therapy Can Help
Trauma-informed therapy can offer a safe and validating space to process your birth story, release guilt or fear, and reconnect with yourself and your baby. Approaches like trauma informed psychotherapy, somatic therapy, and narrative processing are especially effective in treating birth-related trauma (Baas et al., 2020; Beck et al., 2011).
Therapy can help you:
Reclaim your voice and story
Regulate your nervous system
Develop coping tools for anxiety, shame, or flashbacks
Restore your sense of safety and identity
You Are Not Alone
If your birth experience left emotional scars, please know this: you are not weak, dramatic, or broken. You are human. You are resilient. And healing is possible.
Birth Trauma Awareness Week is not just a time to raise awareness. It’s a time to extend grace, support, and space for all those navigating the aftermath of a difficult birth.
We’re Here for You, During the Entire Perinatal Period
Whether you're processing a traumatic birth, navigating anxiety during pregnancy, struggling with postpartum mental health, or preparing for a future delivery with mixed emotions, our team is here to walk alongside you.
Dr. Miller and the trauma-informed therapists at Well Mind Body specialize in supporting clients throughout the entire perinatal period, including:
Pregnancy and prenatal anxiety
Postpartum depression or PTSD
Fertility struggles
Birth trauma recovery
Grief and loss
Book a session today at www.wellmindbody.co or email us at info@wellmindbody.co.
You're not alone, and you don't have to heal alone either.
Thank you for being here!
Dr. E
References
Ayers, S. (2004). Delivery as a traumatic event: prevalence, risk factors, and treatment for postnatal posttraumatic stress disorder. Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, 47(3), 552–567. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.grf.0000129919.00799.5f
Baas, M. A. M., Stramrood, C. A. I., Dijksman, L. M., de Jongh, A., & van Pampus, M. G. (2020). The effects of trauma-focused treatment for women with a traumatic childbirth experience: A randomized controlled trial. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 127(5), 609–618. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.16099
Beck, C. T., Driscoll, J. W., & Watson, S. (2011). Traumatic Childbirth. Routledge.
Grekin, R., & O’Hara, M. W. (2014). Prevalence and risk factors of postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 34(5), 389–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2014.05.003
Birth Trauma Association (2021). Birth Trauma Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.birthtraumaassociation.org.uk/research-facts/statistics
