Processing Birth Stories

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Childbirth might be one of the most intense experiences in your life. Processing that intensity is important for the health of your nervous system (i.e. for your mental and physical health). But due to the demands of postpartum life, it can feel as though there’s no space to truly process what happened.

 

What is Birth Story Work?

 

My graduate work focused on combining Somatic Experiencing® and Narradrama (a form narrative-based Creative Arts Therapy) to help work through a traumatic childbirth story. This unique therapy allows a mother (or any person present at a birth) to work through the birth‘s difficult moments, as well as to enhance awareness of the moments of resilience, strength, and beauty that may have also occurred. I see it as a powerful reframing process.

 

What is the Birth Story Work process?

 

Birth Story Work is tailored to your individual experiences, comfort, and goals. The process involves identifying key moments of the birth, and processing them in small, digestible pieces. We move back and forth between remembering the past, and getting in touch with your body and sensations in the present. The intention is to do this with just the right amount of depth, release, and integration, so you avoid becoming overwhelmed.

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Ways of getting into the birth story could involve creating a visual timeline of the birth and identifying significant moments; drawing or painting moments of the birth; using figurines to represent people and scenes from the birth; looking at photos or hospital records from the birth; using different forms of writing; using movement; and many, many more possibilities. Creating externalized representations of the birth can give you new perspective, allowing for a distance that can be helpful, especially if telling your story is overwhelming.

 

Support

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One of the main reasons women report being traumatized from childbirth is the lack of support they received. Processing your experience in a completely supportive environment, with a focus on actually feeling the support you are receiving in the moment, can be very powerful. This can contribute to repairing any sense of trust that might have been broken due to the lack of care received during the birth process.

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Who is this work for?

 

This work is for mothers, or anyone who has attended a birth (i.e. fathers, birth attendants), that feel like aspects of a birth (or births) have been left unprocessed. Some may want to enter this process in order to honour their birth experience, and create some kind of physical relic or keepsake. Others may be struggling because their birth experience didn’t turn out the way they’d hoped (for example, having a caesarean section after planning a natural home birth). Some people have difficulty accepting their birth story as their own. Some don't know what to do with traumatic moments that happened during the birth. For some, the entire birth experience may have been traumatic, resulting in symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

 

Traumatic Childbirth

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Symptoms of trauma that are typical of traumatic childbirth include flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, numbness, dissociation, anger, anxiety, depression, guilt, avoidance of reminders of the birth, and difficulty with the birth anniversary. Other complications can involve attachment issues, breastfeeding complications, and difficulties with partner relationships.

 

When to do this work?

 

When you are ready. This work can be done very soon after a birth, or many years later. However, processing a traumatic childbirth early on could help with breastfeeding and attachment, and diminish chances of postpartum anxiety and depression. For these reasons, I am available to do home or hospital visits for a mother who would like help processing her birth experience immediately postpartum.

 

This work is a powerful processing and reframing of the birth experience, intended to bring peace and integration.

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Visit the Resources page for links related to more information on birth and traumatic childbirth.