WARNING — This article contains information on some of the causes of trauma, including birth trauma.

What is birth trauma?

Birth trauma has been described as an experience of interactions or events during childbirth that causes overwhelming distressing emotions, leading to negative impacts on your health and wellbeing. This can affect you, your partner or a non-birthing parent.

Childbirth is different for everyone, and in some it can cause physical or psychological injuries (trauma). Birth trauma can have an ongoing effect on your health and wellbeing.

This article will focus on the emotional and psychological impact of birth trauma. You can read more about physical birth injuries here.

What is psychological birth-related trauma?

Your feelings around the time of childbirth can range from excitement and joy to fear, pain and uncertainty. Up to 1 in 3 women find the birth of their baby traumatic.

Trauma can be caused by what happened during labour and childbirth. It can also result from how you feel about the experience. Trauma is not always connected to physical pain, medical treatments or birth injury.

You may find the experience of childbirth emotionally traumatic, even if there was no physical trauma. If your birth experience felt traumatic to you, then it was. Your experience is valid and worthy of acknowledgement, treatment and recovery.

You may:

• be finding it hard to process your childbirth experience
• feel that your birth was distressing
• feel disappointed, angry or sad
• have flashbacks to the birth
• have felt dismissed or that your concerns were minimised during labour and birth
• feel overwhelmed with parenting

As a birth partner, you may have:

• found the labour and birth distressing
• felt powerless or helpless
• felt excluded from decision-making
• felt disregarded, unheard or overlooked by the healthcare team

You and your partner may also have symptoms of:

• anxiety
• postnatal depression
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

If you are feeling this way, it’s important to seek help from your doctor, midwife or maternal child health nurse. Getting early care and support can help. It’s never too late to ask for help — some people seek help months or years after a traumatic birth.

What are the risk factors for birth trauma?

Anyone can experience birth trauma. But there are some factors that can increase your chances of birth trauma.

Some of these factors are:

• a lack of support during labour and birth
• fear for your baby’s or your own wellbeing
• a lack of respect and communication from healthcare staff during labour and birth
• experiencing significant pain during labour and birth
• complications during pregnancy, labour or birth
• having emergency medical interventions during labour and birth
• being separated from your baby after birth — for example, if your baby needs to go to the special care nursery

Care during pregnancy and childbirth with the same midwife (continuity of care) can help prevent birth trauma. Decisions about your birth should be a shared decision-making process between you and your midwife or doctor.

Your healthcare team should explain any interventions (actions to help or improve a situation), and the risks and benefits to you and your baby. They should always ask you for your informed consent before any procedures or treatments.

Your birth experiences may also be influenced by your personal history, which may include:

• previous experience of birth trauma
• abuse or trauma
• having a pregnancy loss or stillbirth
• mental health conditions

How do I get help and treatment for birth trauma?

Recovering from birth trauma will mean different things to different people.

Your healthcare team should aim to provide trauma-informed care — a way of giving care that recognises, understands and responds to trauma.

Trauma-informed care covers social, psychological and medical care to help support you.

Ask for help

If possible, ask for practical and emotional support from family and friends.

It may help to write down how you are feeling, or to talk about your experience with your partner or a trusted family member or friend. You may prefer to speak with a counsellor or connect with an online resource.

See your doctor if your symptoms are worrying you. They can refer you for further treatment and support.

Psychological treatment or medicines

Depending on your situation, your doctor may recommend:

• counselling
• psychological therapy
• medicines

Psychological treatments and medicines can help with anxiety and depression.

Self-care

Be kind to yourself after having a baby. Try to rest as much as possible and make some time for yourself. You might try:

• going for walks outside
• relaxation techniques
• mindfulness
• gentle exercise

Try to eat well and avoid caffeine and alcohol as much as you can.

Who can I speak to if I'm not happy with the care I received?

If you aren’t sure about something that happened to you, it’s a good idea to ask for a meeting with your doctor or midwife.

Talking to the healthcare professionals involved in your care can help you understand what’s happened and why.

If you are unhappy with your healthcare team, you can contact:

• the health complaints agency or health department in your local state or territory
• the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), if you have a concern about the unsafe behaviour or practice of a registered health practitioner
• the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman

Find out more about making a healthcare complaint.

Resources and support

Talk to your doctor, midwife or obstetrician.

Visit Australian Birth Trauma Association for information and support, including peer-to-peer support.

Visit PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia) for information and support after a traumatic birth. You can call the PANDA national helpline on 1300 726 306.

Gidget Foundation Australia exists to support the emotional wellbeing of expectant and new parents to ensure they get the right care — call 1300 851 758.

ForWhen connects new parents to mental health services and supports — call on 1300 24 23 22.

Beyond Blue offers mental health support and counselling — call 1300 22 4636 or chat to a counsellor online.

The Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) provides information on perinatal mental health and information on support services.