Birth trauma. How it affects us.
Birth trauma wasnt recognised as difinitive until around 1980 when it was understood that external factors can come into play and can be described as traumatic to the person involved. This could be covering the person who actually felt unsafe and threatened or if this was a person looking onto a traumatic expereince. The thing is, trauma is subjective. It is so varied and therefore can really only be described by those who have experienced it. No-body can decide if you have or havent experienced trauma as it is your own feelings and thoughts.
In 2014 the Nice Guidelines recognised trauma including; PTSD, antenatal and anxiety disorders. This has been a help for those who may need it going forward however, the NHS do not seem to sign post mothers or parents to alternative services outside of the NHS.
We go into our birth planning, setting our intentions, looking to the outcome and when the outcome isnt as planned, it can be very difficult for some to understand and to move on from.
When it comes to birth trauma; the main factors could be put into these catagories.
Perceived Threat of Injury/Death to themselves or their baby.
Trauma through feeling vulnerable or generally distressed.
Consent missing, therefore feeling cut out of the situation.
Those who have suffered a traumatic birth and have been left feeling a certain way which is uncomfortable could describe these emotions as;
Anger, sadness, frustration, dissapointment, raw, heartbreaking, blurry, intense and even terrifying if they felt a worry for their life or the life of their baby.
We may also struggle to discuss the birth with those around us leading us to either avoid the conversation altogether or go into a high state of anxiety and worry. Perhaps needing to discuss it all the time as it is often at the forefront of our mind. We could also experience intrusive thoughts when we are in a calm state, coming out of nowhere, completely out of the blue.
All of these feelings, emotions and responses are normal and can trigger you to think back to the situation you were in and bring about the physical changes in your body such as your breathing pattern changing, trembling or crying. This is going to be the response of your Amygdala which is the lobe in the brain responsible for letting us know when we are in danger. It is connected to the sympathetic system in our ANS (Autonomic Nervous System) it is there to protect us however, when we experience trauma or stress, they can become stuck in the amygdala rather than being filtered through as normal. This means that each time we think back to the expereince of have the physical response it can trigger the Fight, Flight or Freeze held there. It can be a thought, a picture, a memory or even going back into a similar space/room where the event took place.
How can we begin to start the process of healing?
This is the key. The first is to open up about how you are feeling. Talk to someone who will listen or even write it down. Take the time to open up about how you feel and face those feelings. it may be tough but this is the first start.
You could look to do a process with me which is called The Three Step Rewind this can be found here and is a short and very reponsive process which take those images which have got stuck in the subconscious part of our mind and pull them out disrupting them so they are no longer stuck going round and round. They can feel lighter, easier and much harder to find. If you would like to learn more about this, please contact me here.
The main thing is you have recognised you arent feeling in a good place when it comes to your birth, this is a great start and you can begin this healing process when you are ready.
Claire x