What is birth trauma?
Birth trauma is a shorthand term to describe symptoms of distress you might experience after having gone through, or witnessed, a traumatic birth. In some cases, these symptoms can be enough for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Research shows that about 4-5% of women experience PTSD after birth – about 25,000-30,000 a year in the UK. Many more women experience some trauma symptoms, such as intense anxiety or flashbacks, but not enough for a PTSD diagnosis. We use “birth trauma” for all these cases.
Birth partners can also develop PTSD from witnessing a traumatic birth. Research suggests that about 1% of dads or partners develop PTSD after seeing their partner go through traumatic birth – and we support dads and partners too.
For more information, see out Coping with a Traumatic Birth leaflet which is available to download in English, Urdu and Polish. You can also listen to an audio version of the Urdu leaflet.
You can also download our leaflet for birth partners.
4–5%
of women develop PTSD after birth
1%
of birth partners develop PTSD after birth
All sorts of things can make birth traumatic, such as a difficult forceps birth, or an emergency caesarean, or a postpartum haemorrhage. Very long, difficult labours can be traumatic, as can short, intense ones. If your baby is born premature or ill, and has to spend time in special care, that can be traumatising too.
Often women say that the trauma of the birth has been made worse by neglect or poor communication from the health professionals looking after them. We hear a lot of stories of women being denied pain relief, or having procedures performed on them without their consent. This is particularly distressing because women feel betrayed by the very people they trusted to look after them.
Having another baby
Deciding whether to have another baby after you’ve been through a traumatic birth can be hard. Download our guide to help you think through the decision.
Sharing Experiences
Sometimes hearing other people’s birth trauma stories can make you feel less alone. We’ve made a video of five women talking about their experiences of traumatic birth. We hope you find it helpful.
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