How to minimise the risk of a traumatic birth​

It’s estimated one in three Australian women will experience some kind of trauma during and after childbirth. While sometimes physical trauma is unavoidable, psychological trauma can have lasting effects. 

In fact, one study showed more than 10 percent of Australian women show signs of post-traumatic stress 12 weeks after childbirth. It’s understandable, then, that many mothers-to-be want their experience to be as positive as possible; childbirth that leaves them feeling empowered and ready for the delights of their new baby.

Understand what fear can do 

All birthing women across time and cultures have been somewhat fearful about birth: both the process itself and the vulnerable time afterward. The good news is that unpacking our fears ahead of labour is incredibly valuable. 

Fear activates our ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ responses. In a birthing woman’s body, these responses can mean adrenaline is running the show, interfering with the hormones (especially oxytocin, the ‘love hormone’) that you really want running the show.  

In fact, fear and a woman’s bodily reaction to it can often be at the heart of what is termed a ‘failure to progress’ (something I see as the hospital’s ‘failure to wait’). 

The focus should be on getting the baby here safely, no matter the method.

For women who want to avoid unnecessary intervention, it’s important to understand that if fear slows or stops your labour, it will likely lead to synthetic hormones being used to speed it up; this in turn increases the likelihood of other interventions in what is termed a ‘cascade’. Not just that, but adrenaline interferes with our body’s natural endorphins.

Find your antidote to fear

Understandably, most of us expect our fears will be soothed by those around us in hospital, and by the very setting itself. We think, ‘The hospital’s job is to keep me safe, so of course I will feel safe’. But medical safety is not the same as emotional safety. 

Yes, women need medical care should something go awry, but they also need the physical environment and continuous, one-on-one support that makes them feel safe – so their birthing hormones unfold and the birth goes well. What kind of lighting, sounds, surrounds and support will make you feel safe?

Feeling safe is not just about your physical environment, though; preparing for parenthood brings up our past experiences of family life and our expectations for our own future as nothing else can. Addressing these personal fears to create an internal feeling of safety is incredibly valuable as you approach the challenge of birth (not to mention, parenting!).

When the going gets tough and you are looking for someone to talk you through any self-doubt, I’m sorry to say your partner might not be very convincing.

Understand why your partner alone is not enough

Now I hear what you’re thinking: ‘My partner will be there to make me feel safe: sorted!’

Alas, partners who can truly do this are few and far between! Why? Well, because partners usually lack the oh-so-important ‘credibility factor’. When the going gets tough and you are looking for someone to talk you through any self-doubt, I’m sorry to say your partner might not be very convincing. The same encouragement coming from a known midwife or doula, on the other hand (someone with the requisite credibility), is a different matter.

In very practical terms, during late pregnancy, design a ‘birth circuit’ and practice active birth positions and relaxation skills together – but also talk through your expectations of each other. The key here is to be realistic about the kind of support your partner is able to provide and to do what you can to educate yourselves (thereby boosting your partner’s capacity), as well as to consider engaging outside support. 

Accept that birth is emotional (and so is parenthood!)

If avoiding intervention is your intention, then choices about your birthplace, birth plan, and caregivers are all decisions to make. Where will you feel safe? Who will make you feel the safest? Who will you trust to know when medical intervention is merely routine or actually necessary? Research the intervention statistics at your chosen place of birth.