7 Ways Perinatal Trauma Can Impact You
Traumas that occur around the time of conception, during pregnancy or postpartum can impact everyone differently, and often have wide ranging effects on your emotional and psychological wellbeing and your relationships. Here are some the common effects of perinatal trauma I see in my psychotherapy practice:
1. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
A trauma response is characterized by symptoms of re-experiencing and flashbacks, nightmares, scary intrusive thoughts, heightened physical responses to stress or trauma reminders, feeling disconnected due to dissociation and avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event. Not all traumatic experiences will lead to PTSD, and it’s possible to have some of these symptoms without a full diagnosis.
2. Depression and Anxiety
Depression and anxiety are often co-occurring. Problematic symptoms include depressed, sad mood that doesn't go away, unexplained anger/rage, excessive guilt and shame, difficulty controlling worries, and feelings of hopelessness. Suicidal thoughts are also a symptom that needs to be addressed quickly.
3. Loss of trust in your healthcare providers
Not feeling you can trust your medical team can lead to difficulty reaching out for support when you most need it. When you’ve experienced poor communication, had your concerns dismissed, felt disrespected or if you’ve been through a life-threatening medical crisis during fertility treatment, pregnancy or postpartum you may feel understandably avoidant of seeking out medical treatment. Being open with your doctor about how you’re really feeling may be especially difficult. This kind of avoidance is often a symptom of trauma and a feature of PTSD.
4. Concerns about how you're bonding with your baby
Parents often express these concerns when they feel disconnected from themselves (possibly due to dissociation), feeling overwhelmed with the demands of caring for a newborn, previous pregnancy or infant loss, or when they’ve had a baby in the NICU or other medical complications during pregnancy and postpartum. If you’re worried about your bonding experience with your baby, it’s important to know that bonding and attachment happen over time, not only at birth.
5. Indecisiveness or fear about the decision to have another baby
The decision to have another child after a traumatic or disturbing experience during the perinatal period is frequently complicated. Parents are often concerned about how trauma and fear are influencing this important decision. It can be helpful to process any lingering feelings about your previous pregnancy or infant loss, or birth trauma and think about what you want to be different about a subsequent pregnancy, including what needs to be in place to give you extra emotional and psychological support. This may look like enlisting supportive people-both professional and non-professional-and learning new self care and coping strategies.
6. Loss of trust in yourself and your body
Trauma changes the way we think and feel about ourselves. Loss of trust in yourself may show up as self blame, shame and guilt; changes in body image; loss of confidence in your ability to create a sense of safety for yourself. Building up this trust again takes time and patience with yourself. Facing your feelings and understanding how a traumatic or disturbing memory has impacted your sense of self and your identity is a big part of trauma recovery.
7. Relationship Problems
Trauma can strain your relationship with your partner and lead to difficulty feeling connected, supported and understood. Often, both the birthing AND non-birthing partners are affected by perinatal trauma.
