Did your birth mess you up?
If you feel like answering yes, then I would consider that to be some sort of birth trauma. Birth trauma is under-reported and when it is reported, it is often not taken seriously.
Trauma changes us forever. In order to move on in your life, your trauma needs to be acknowledged and addressed.
In today’s episode, we are looking at an overview of birth trauma and touching on some key points.
When I worked in long-term care, I became familiar with a term called lived experience
This is a term that describes an individual’s take on their own life story
Their lived experience includes their profession, their habits, but most importantly their trauma, since trauma changes how we evolve as human beings
As a care provider, you can ALWAYS benefit from knowing the lived experience of the individuals in your care
So why in long-term care, but not in perinatal care?
The perinatal period (the time around pregnancy, birth and babyhood) has a profound experience on us as individuals
Lived experience needs to be applied to the birth experience, especially when trauma is involved
25-34% of women report birth trauma, but there are many more women who do not report their trauma
Birth trauma doesn’t have to be physical
Any threat to your emotional integrity in the birthing process is also birth trauma
Common examples: care providers teasing you, mocking you, rolling their eyes, or pressuring you into choosing birthing interventions such as inductions or requiring certain birthing positions
Birthing women often feel out of control and lost, and health care providers may take advantage of that
Health care providers tend to focus on routine policies and procedures
You are allowed to redefine the procedure by coming in with very clear expectations
You will need to lead your healthcare providers instead of being led by them
There are many transitions in birth: the labour process itself, from one environment to another and from one healthcare provider to another
The transitions are the places where trauma is more likely to occur
In order to get through those transitions safely, you need to have a plan
Healthcare providers can and should help you through the transitions by understanding your lived experience and by giving you the space to do your thing while advocating for your plan
Your birth experience really happened. And it was a really big deal.
I see you fighting back tears when you hear a good birth story or passionately protecting others on any social media thread you can.
I get it. The guilt and a sense of failures still grips you. And very your birth is here to make you feel radically seen and invalidate your birth experience.
And I've got. you the signature Unbury Your Birth process frees you from the heaviness that you may not even know exists, that is preventing you from enjoying parenthood fully.
You can really unbury your birth and take back the power you deserve. You may not know where to begin, but I do. I've developed a clear simple, repeatable process to deconstruct your birth story and give you back the power hidden within it.
Join me for a transformative six week program designed to give you the clarity, validation and freedom from the day you gave birth, to be able to move on to the rest of your life. Unbury Your Birth was created just for you.
If you've ever felt:
like you did something wrong
angry about something that happened to you that day
as if you didn't do your best
isolated because you tried to seek help, but felt like no one actually gets it
Your birth story is worthy of being heard. Join a group of people just like you to process and redefine your birth experience. Unbury Your Birth is currently open for enrollment. We get started on June 17 at 12:30pm. So make sure that you book your enrolling call now. Space is limited.
If you...
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