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How Does Birth Trauma Burden Mothers? A Clinical Psychology Podcast Episode.

Writer's picture:  Connor Whiteley Connor Whiteley
How Does Birth Trauma Burden Mothers? A Clinical Psychology Podcast Episode.

For the vast majority of people, giving birth is a beautiful, wonderful and amazing experience that means they get to bring new life into the world. Yet for a lot of women, giving birth can be a very traumatic, hard and awful time in their life because childbirth can be overwhelming. As well as mothers can find it overwhelming to immediately transition from childbirth to the early stages of becoming a mother, meaning there is no time for the new mother to recover physically and emotionally after childbirth. Also, whilst women are told it should take about 6 weeks for their recovery to happen, in reality, there is no recovery time because of the new responsibilities and demands of being a new parent. This is often forgotten about by the majority of people (myself included). Therefore, in this clinical psychology podcast episode, we explore why can childbirth be potentially traumatic for women, and how does birth trauma burden a mother. If you enjoy learning about mental health, clinical psychology and trauma then this is a fascinating episode for you.


Today’s episode has been sponsored by Applied Psychology: Applying Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology And More To The Real-World. Available from all major eBook retailers and you can order the paperback and hardback copies from Amazon, your local bookstore and local library, if you request it. Also available as an AI-narrated audiobook from selected audiobook platforms and library systems. For example, Kobo, Spotify, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Overdrive, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca.


Why Is Childbirth Potentially Traumatic?

When it comes to birth trauma, there are a few main ways how this can become a traumatic experience for a new parent. Firstly, childbirth by its very nature disturbs the body’s equilibrium as well as the mother’s sense of security and creates a severe disruption that requires rebalancing and recuperation. Secondly, for a lot of women, childbirth can be emotionally traumatic too because childbirth can involve unexpected interventions, complications, awful interactions with medical staff, postpartum complications as well as childbirth is an extremely intense process. All these different factors can leave scars on a mother by disrupting her sense of safety and decreasing her mental health.


In addition, what is even worse is that as a society, we don’t allow women the time to heal and recover from the emotionally and physically demanding process of childbirth. We simply kick them out of hospital with their new baby, expect them to immediately take on all the new responsibilities and unless the woman has an amazing social support network and family, then she doesn’t get time to recover at all. As well as even if the woman does have a great social support network, because of the weakened state of paternal leave and other support for new parents, sometimes the partner and other sources of support just cannot be there for the new mother.


More on this later on.


How Does The Isolation And Pressure Of Being A New Mother Impact Women?

When I first came across this point, I was very surprised that being a new mother can be isolating because I didn’t understand how. Then I got thinking about how bringing a beautiful new baby into the world brings a lot of challenges that limit a new mother from seeing their friends, going out and doing a lot of things that people normally do to feel socially connected.


Moreover, a new mother immediately has to deal with the demands of being a new mother by dealing with breastfeeding, sleepless nights, hormonal imbalances and the potentially overwhelming responsibility of caring for a newborn baby. And this is where the isolation and pressure part of motherhood comes into play, because of this new life the mother experiences is all-consuming and abrupt. Essentially, your life changes overnight forever and this leaves very little space for women to address any birth trauma or for them to reflect on their birth experiences.


Of course, I am flat out not saying that mothers should not look after their newborns nor am I saying that mothers shouldn’t enjoy the experience of early motherhood, and I am not saying mothers shouldn’t partake in the responsibilities they now have. What I am saying is that mothers need and they should ask for the social support if they need it, so they can lessen some of this burden and pressure. This will allow them to process their birth experience and any birth trauma too, and getting social support will help the new mother enjoy the experience of early motherhood more as well.


Additionally, when it comes to isolation in early motherhood, this happens because there is an awful silence around birth trauma. No one wants to talk about it and in society, there are unrealistic pressures placed on new mothers. For example, in society, there is a big idea that motherhood is only a time for joy, fulfilment and pure happiness and if you don’t feel those things then you are a failure as a mother. That is completely wrong and it ignores the complexities of early motherhood as well as all the struggles that different women may face.


Ultimately, this silence and idealised version of motherhood leads to stigma that makes women feel guilty and ashamed for not immediately embracing the role of early motherhood with gusto, joy and pure excitement. Also, this stigma only prolongs any birth trauma they’ve experienced because it makes women scared to speak out and seek the psychological support they need. All because they don’t want to be judged and criticized for not living up to this idealised version of motherhood.


How Can We Support New Mothers After Birth Trauma?

After learning about why birth trauma can burden a new mother, we need to focus on how do we fix this to improve the lives and experiences of new mothers. It goes without saying that the childbirth process as well as the early stages of motherhood will always be challenging and tender in their own way for each woman. Yet the main problem with the current process is childbirth doesn’t have to be set up unfairly for the women going through childbirth. Since as a culture and society, we need to create a more supportive environment for new mothers so new mothers can feel understood, heard, nourished and protected as they recover from the physically and emotionally demanding challenge of childbirth. As well as recover from any birth trauma that they experience.


In addition, we need to encourage more honest and open conversations about birth trauma as well as early motherhood. This would allow us to cultivate an authentically support environment where women can feel safe to share their birth trauma and other non-idealised experiences without any fear of judgement. Thankfully, this will help to reduce the feeling of isolation and improve the mental health of new mothers in other ways too. As well as we need to create conditions for new mothers that allow them to properly heal and steady themselves so they can prepare for what raising a child will require.


Moreover, when it comes to healthcare providers, we need to put pressure on them to develop new approaches, new systems and interventions that support a new mother’s physical and mental health. This will help to decrease some birth trauma in the first place by decreasing postpartum complications and supporting a new mother’s recovery.


Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what your gender is, if you want children or not or whatever your thoughts are towards giving birth, we all need to recognise the importance of allowing women enough time and resources to physically and emotionally recover after childbirth to best protect their mental health going forward.


Clinical Psychology Conclusion

Something I realised during the writing of this podcast episode was just how much I questioned whether or not I should be writing this in the first place. Since I am not a woman and whether my future involves children or not is questionable but I think I did this topic justice because I want to introduce all of us to the topic of birth trauma. I don’t want to sit and let fear hold me back when there are a lot of great women who are struggling with birth trauma and negative birth experiences and they don’t feel like they can come forward because of the stigma.


Therefore, that’s why I do these sort of “unconventional” clinical psychology podcast episodes, because I want to help people. And maybe there’s a woman listening to this and she feels glad to learn she isn’t the only woman going through this and there is help and support available to her if she needs it.


It’s a hope.


Anyway, when it comes to transitioning from childbirth to early motherhood, this can be a challenging and overwhelming time for new mothers, and that’s okay. It doesn’t make a mother a bad person, an unfit mother or anything negative if she finds it overwhelming and non-idealised.


For the rest of us, we need to take steps towards creating a culture where we’re more understanding and empathetic towards women who have had birth trauma and negative birth experiences. We can create this culture by empowering women to navigate this transition with resilience and by supporting women to reclaim their well-being and sense of agency during the transition.


Ultimately, this silence around birth trauma has to end and as current and aspiring clinical psychologists, we need to help do this to protect the mental health of women, so they feel empowered enough to seek mental health support if they need it.


We need to make sure that every woman has the chance to heal and recover with the time and resources they need, so they can embark on the great journey of motherhood. A journey that will be challenging, hard and it will seem flat out impossible at times, especially for mothers who have experienced birth trauma. Yet with the right physical and mental health support, motherhood really can be fun, amazing and one of the most fulfilling experiences you’ll ever have.


 

I really hope you enjoyed today’s clinical psychology podcast episode.


If you want to learn more, please check out:


Applied Psychology: Applying Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology And More To The Real-World. Available from all major eBook retailers and you can order the paperback and hardback copies from Amazon, your local bookstore and local library, if you request it. Also available as an AI-narrated audiobook from selected audiobook platforms and library systems. For example, Kobo, Spotify, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Overdrive, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca.



Have a great day.


Clinical Psychology References and Further Reading

Ayers, S. (2017). Birth trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder: the importance of risk and resilience. Journal of reproductive and infant psychology, 35(5), 427-430.


Chrzan-Dętkoś, M., Walczak-Kozłowska, T., & Lipowska, M. (2021). The need for additional mental health support for women in the postpartum period in the times of epidemic crisis. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 21, 1-9.


https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/mindfully-present-fully-alive/202407/the-unspoken-burden-of-birth-trauma


Nakić Radoš, S., Matijaš, M., Kuhar, L., Anđelinović, M., & Ayers, S. (2020). Measuring and conceptualizing PTSD following childbirth: Validation of the City Birth Trauma Scale. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(2), 147.


Simpson, M., & Catling, C. (2016). Understanding psychological traumatic birth experiences: A literature review. Women and Birth, 29(3), 203-207.


Watson, K., White, C., Hall, H., & Hewitt, A. (2021). Women’s experiences of birth trauma: A scoping review. Women and Birth, 34(5), 417-424.


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