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Childbirth and PTSD

One in Three Post-Partum Women Suffers PTSD Symptoms After Giving B...

...approximately one third of all post-partum women exhibit some symptoms of PTSD, and a smaller percentage develop full-blown PTSD following the ordeal of labor.

Of those women who developed post-traumatic symptoms, 80 percent opted for natural childbirth without pain relief. Other significant factors identified include the woman's body image (including discomfort with being in an undressed state for the relatively prolonged period of labor and undergoing elective Caesarean sections), fear during labor, and complications in the present and earlier pregnancies and labors.

..., one of the most influential factors was pain management during delivery. Of the women who experienced partial or full post-trauma symptoms, 80 percent had gone through a natural childbirth, without any form of pain relief. "The less pain relief there was, the higher the woman's chances of developing post-partum PTSD,"...

...support during labor, in the form of a midwife or doula, had no impact when it came to avoiding post-traumatic symptoms. Factors such as socioeconomic and marital status, level of education, and religion also had no effect. [emphasis mine]

Tags: PTSD, childbirth

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on August 10, 2012 at 5:48pm

I've heard about this - didn't know it was 1/3 of all women. Wow - that is high.

Permalink Reply by TNT666 on August 10, 2012 at 10:20pm

Best way to avoid PPD is to avoid pregnancy completely!

Permalink Reply by Angela M. on September 9, 2012 at 5:43pm

I'm confused. Are they really talking about post-traumatic stress disorder or do they mean post-partum depression? Because those are two entirely different animals and the PTSD aspect of this sounds like complete BS to me.

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on September 9, 2012 at 8:15pm

They're not talking about post partum depression but actual PTSD.

Symptoms included flashbacks of the labor, the avoidance of discussion of the event, physical reactions such as heart palpitations during such discussions, and a reluctance to consider having another child.

Perhaps you've never experienced such flashbacks, heart palpitations while talking about your labor, etc. but apparently some mothers do. Since motherhood is so glorified, women having such symptoms might be reluctant to voluntarily discuss them their friends, and focus instead on the many positive aspects.

Permalink Reply by Angela M. on September 10, 2012 at 6:05am

Ok, I get that. I guess I just found it confusing because I hear plenty of women discuss their experiences with post-partum depression but I've honestly never heard anyone talk about this before (which doesn't mean it doesn't exist or I don't believe it, I'm just saying...). Now that I'm thinking more about it, though, this could at least partly explain why other women look at me like I'm nuts for having had 2 children without drugs.

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