19/07/2023
Trigger Warning - talking about birth trauma.
It's Birth Trauma Awareness week, an important topic to discuss. It still seems to be a taboo topic and I know from my own experience and also talking to new parents it can affect both the birther and any birthing partners who may have witnessed the birth.
I experienced a traumatic time when birthing my baby. It still feels strange saying it after all these years, nearly 10 years ago. I sometimes now still slightly worry someone might think i'm being dramatic, or negative, or maybe it wasn't that bad, or people saying I should have just got over it - even though I do know my feelings and experiences are valid. It was scary and it does matter. But I still feel a bit vunerable sharing details with people.
The truth is although I'm not raw with emotion anymore and I've had plenty of therapy to get me here, and although the memories never leave you I can honestly say it is a good place to be when you can start to look back on an experience with a calmer outlook, with acceptance and more understanding and forgiveness.
So if you feel that your birth wasn't what you wanted, if it felt traumatic then when you are ready you too can process it in a way that is helpful for you.
Birth Trauma is subjective, if someone says it was traumatic for them, then it was. It doesn't have to look a certain way, or be a particular type of birth. Often birth trauma comes about because of the way someone 'felt' before, during and/or after the birth rather than the actual events (although can be both). So if this resonates with you I'm sending you hugs and start with compassion for yourself, give youself persmission to feel all the feelings, then when you're ready reach out for more support.
❤
