Written By Sheryl Wynne

Most people have heard of postnatal depression (PND), and considering 1 in 4 women and birthing people are diagnosed with postnatal depression within year of giving birth, it might seem unsurprising, and good, that many have heard of it. 

But did you know that 1 in 3 women describe at least some aspect of their birth experience as traumatic?

I didn’t know, either. Until it happened to me.

My own Birth Trauma, 10 years ago, cracked me open, and like thousands of others I felt broken, I felt like a failure, and I felt so very alone. Until I realised I wasn’t alone, far from it, and then I felt despair. This was bigger than I could imagine. 

For a long time, I blamed myself for feeling the way I did, but the more I learned about trauma the more I understood that I didn’t choose to be traumatised. My mind was trying to protect me because my experience was frightening and I couldn’t escape it. If only someone had listened to me early on and told me that, validated my experience, I might not have developed PTSD.

I felt so desperate in those early weeks because I’d always wanted more than one child, but I couldn’t imagine doing that again. Before long, I began searching for answers that would maybe help me do this again and not be broken for a second time. 

Eventually, 22 months after my traumatic birth I had my Healing Birth and I finally felt like life was in colour again. Since 2018, I’ve helped others Plan for the Birth They Deserve, and navigate the muddy waters of trauma, to find a path to their own healing and empowerment. 

You might have noticed that I haven’t described either of my births, and there’s an important reason. When you hear about traumatic birth you might have thoughts about WHAT happened to make it traumatic. And I want you to know that trauma is not the event, it is what happens inside of you. It is the psychological response to a situation you don’t have the resources to manage. It is a psychological injury, which may or may not be accompanied by physical injury.

Similarly, there is no one route or type of birth that can be deemed ‘healing’. The healing is taking place within us as a result of our experience of feeling heard and understood; having autonomy over what happens to us and feeling empowered every step of the way.

When we have either type of birth it changes our brain, our trajectory, our relationship with ourselves and each other, it changes everything. 

I’m helping make the world a better place one HEALING birth at a time.

Love from Sheryl xx

If you feel like you have unresolved trauma from birth, you are planning a pregnancy or birth after birth trauma, or if you work with people in the perinatal period, get in touch with Sheryl at Simply Natal the Healing Birth Doula on Instagram @simply_natal_healing_birth or www.simplynatal.co.uk Simply Natal is in the process of registering as a Community Interest Company in order to make our perinatal support even more impactful.