How Do Women Develop Resilience After a Traumatic Birth Experience?

What you need to know

• Up to 30% of women experience childbirth as traumatic, but most do not develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Women felt powerless during traumatic births due to lack of communication, consent, and support from healthcare providers
• Developing resilience after trauma involved drawing on internal resources like self-care and embracing motherhood, as well as external resources like faith and supportive relationships

Understanding Traumatic Birth Experiences

Giving birth is often described as one of the most joyful experiences in a woman’s life. However, for some women, childbirth can be deeply distressing and traumatic. Studies estimate that 20-30% of women experience childbirth as psychologically traumatic. This can happen for various reasons, including:

• Complications during labor or delivery
• Feeling a lack of control
• Not feeling supported by healthcare providers
• Fearing for their own life or their baby’s life

When women experience birth as traumatic, it can lead to poor mental health outcomes. About 1 in 4 women who have a traumatic birth go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD can also occur alongside postpartum depression in some cases.

However, most women who have a traumatic birth do not develop PTSD or other mental health conditions. Instead, they appear to be resilient - able to adapt and overcome the difficult experience. But we don’t know very much about how women develop this resilience after a traumatic birth. Understanding this process could help prevent PTSD and support women’s mental health after difficult birth experiences.

Feeling Powerless During Traumatic Births

This study interviewed eight women who had experienced traumatic births to understand their journey towards resilience. A key theme that emerged was feeling powerless during the birth experience. Women described several factors that contributed to this sense of powerlessness:

Feeling Unworthy of Care

Many women felt ignored, unsupported, and unworthy of care from healthcare providers during labor and delivery. They described having their concerns dismissed and their pain unacknowledged. This made them feel insignificant and abandoned at an incredibly vulnerable time.

One participant, Jenny, shared: “Although I was in excruciating pain…they didn’t even bother to read my notes that the doctor had made me carry around. They still sent me home again…They still hadn’t picked up that the womb wasn’t reacting as it should do.”

Lack of Communication and Information

Women often felt confused and terrified because healthcare providers did not explain what was happening during complications or emergencies. Without clear communication, women were left feeling helpless and unable to understand or participate in decisions about their care.

Onika described her experience: “I was lying there by myself for about half an hour. And then someone came back, wheeled me into theatre, and then they did the operation. No one was explaining what was happening.”

Loss of Control and Consent

Several women felt that procedures were done to their bodies without proper discussion or consent. This left them feeling violated and invisible. Laura shared a particularly upsetting experience:

“I mean you’re not supposed to say, ‘I’m going to break them anyway.’ You’re supposed to say, ‘Right, we need to sit up and have a discussion about this.’ And wait five minutes. Not in the middle just get the hook out. I mean I looked away at that point because I knew what she was going to do. It was done without consent.”

These experiences of powerlessness during birth left women feeling traumatized, abandoned, and distrustful of healthcare providers. However, the study found that women were able to draw on various resources to develop resilience and overcome this trauma over time.

The Journey Towards Resilience

The second major theme identified in the study was women’s journey towards resilience after their traumatic birth experiences. This involved drawing on both internal and external resources:

External Resources

Faith and Spirituality

For some women, turning to faith or spirituality helped them regain a sense of control and find meaning in their suffering. Even women who weren’t particularly religious before found comfort in prayer or meditation during their most difficult moments.

Rhianna shared: “Absolutely feeling alone. That terrible, terrible feeling of alone, I turned to God. I am not the most spiritual person I know. I’m not even the most orthodox person. And yet in that moment, I found my faith.”

Connecting to a higher power through prayer or meditation helped women feel protected and gave them strength to cope with their trauma.

Supportive Relationships

Having supportive relationships was crucial for developing resilience. Family, friends, and other mothers who had similar experiences provided emotional support, practical help, and a sense of not being alone.

Deidre emphasized how important family support was: “One hundred percent my family. The support of my family, partner’s family and my parents, my brother, was immense. One hundred percent wouldn’t have got through it. And they were able to keep my spirits up and keep me going.”

Interestingly, romantic partners were not mentioned as frequently as a source of support. Women seemed to find more comfort in female friendships and family relationships as they recovered.

Internal Resources

Embracing Motherhood

For many women, embracing their role as a mother became a powerful source of resilience. Caring for their baby gave them a sense of purpose and capability.

Vivian reflected: “I realize that I am a lot stronger than I thought I was. I think I’m gonna be able to achieve something. I know I’m a lot more capable than I thought I was. And I think being a mother makes you very capable.”

Seeing their children grow and thrive also helped women move forward from the trauma. It gave them a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Self-Care and Finding Their Voice

Women described how practicing self-care and learning to advocate for themselves was an important part of their healing journey. This often involved becoming more assertive and speaking up about their experiences and needs.

Onika shared how she found her voice: “For me, that’s a very powerful thing – to have a voice. Where are the midwives? Why am I giving birth alone?’ And I shouted it over and over again. There was no way I was going to sit in silence.”

Taking time for reflection, engaging in activities that brought joy, and prioritizing their own wellbeing helped women reclaim a sense of control over their lives.

Conclusions

• Traumatic birth experiences often leave women feeling powerless and abandoned, but many are able to develop resilience over time
• Both internal resources (like self-care and embracing motherhood) and external resources (like faith and supportive relationships) play important roles in the journey towards resilience
• Healthcare providers should focus on clear communication, consent, and compassionate care to help prevent birth trauma
• Supporting women to identify and utilize their own internal and external resources may help foster resilience after difficult birth experiences