Who Gets Birth Trauma

Anyone who has experienced or witnessed a traumatic birth where there is a fear for the life of the mum or baby.  This can affect mums, partner, birth partners or birth workers.  But birth trauma can also occur due to feeling a lack of control, loss of dignity, not feeling listened to, violation, consent, staff attitude towards your care, treatment, lack of effective pain relief.  All these factors contribute to birth trauma and does not necessarily have to be connected to the fear of death.  Each woman is different and can have the most straight forward birth but be left with trauma due any combinations of the factors.

Birth trauma affects partners and if left untreated can contribute to depression, anxiety and changes within the relationship.  Many partners feel they don’t have the right to feel traumatised as they were not going through the pain but have vicarious birth trauma from witnessing the event.

Birth Trauma Resolution (BTR) Therapy is available to anyone involved and suffering from the events.

1 in 10 new fathers admitted to having depression post birth (and PTSD) and this is thought to be wildly under estimated.