![]() This takes place during a single appointment lasting at least an hour, with a follow up appointment (by phone or in person) 1-2 weeks later. When a person is fully relaxed, they are encouraged to recall their birth events and then are calmed down again by being guided to recall or imagine a place where they feel totally safe and at ease. It is performed once a person is in a state of deep relaxation. Rewind is a non-intrusive, gentle and brief psychologically informed intervention aimed at reducing the trauma symptoms people can experience. Rewind Intervention:Īt Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust we are also able to offer a Rewind intervention to women who are extremely nervous about giving birth again, because of a previous negative birth experience, but who do not necessarily require the Talking Therapies outlined above or who do not wish to access Talking Therapies. Your midwife, GP or health visitor can help with a referral on for these treatments or you can self-refer to your local NHS talking therapies service (known as IAPT – Improving Access to Psychological Therapies). The treatment follows a set structure, and a typical course consists of 6-12 one-hour sessions. Alternatively, you can listen to taps and tones through headphones, played alternately in each ear, whilst thinking about the trauma. It usually involves 6-12 sessions of up to an hour over two or three monthsĮMDR involves thinking about the trauma while following a moving object, such as a finger, with your eye. ![]() CBT and EMDR do this in different ways but both therapies take place in a safe and supportive environment and can be effective in helping people recover from the effects of trauma.ĬBT is a structured therapy where you go over the traumatic events, look at your perceptions and thought processes, and use strategies to try to create a safe environment in which you can consider and process particularly difficult or traumatic aspects of your birth. Talking therapies can help people process their memories in a way that they move to long term memory so are less easily triggered and cause less distress. This means memories and distress are frequently triggered and people experience reliving the event. Both therapies are based on the observation that when people have PTSD, distressing events remain in the short-term memory part of the brain that is active in fight-flight responses and emotions. Currently, the two recommended therapies are Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). Treatment options for birth trauma:įollowing an assessment, if your symptoms meet the full criteria for PTSD, this is best treated by Talking Therapies. Some women’s traumatic distress can be mis-diagnosed as postnatal depression. There are also many more women who suffer some of the symptoms of PTSD but who do not have all of the symptoms that would lead to a diagnosis. Research has suggested that around 5% of women are diagnosed with traumatic stress after childbirth. in childhood, with a previous birth or domestic violence Baby’s stay in Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) or Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU).Impersonal treatment or problems with the staff attitudes.Very long, very short or very painful labour.The following are some of the experiences that can increase the likelihood of birth being traumatic: Feeling more angry, irritable and jumpy or on edge.Difficulties with sleeping and concentrating. ![]() An urge to avoid any reminders of the event.Avoidance of anything that reminds you of the trauma (this may include talking about it).Feeling distressed, anxious or panicky when exposed to things which remind you of the event.The persistent re-experiencing of the event by way of recurrent intrusive memories, flashbacks and nightmares.A response of intense fear, helplessness or horror to an experience.An experience involving the threat of death or serious injury to an individual or another person close to them (e.g. ![]() This is the term for a set of understandable reactions to a traumatic, scary or bad experience. While most people feel their experience of giving birth is positive overall, some feel their birth was particularly difficult or traumatic and this can have a negative effect on their emotional wellbeing.Ī physically or emotionally traumatic birth can lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
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