Trauma of baby
From the Echo, first published Saturday 18th Oct 2003.
HAVING a baby is supposed to be a happy experience, but a recent study by a psychologist revealed that as many as one in 20 women are left mentally disturbed by the experience of giving birth.
They develop post traumatic stress disorder, suffering anxiety, flashbacks and nightmares. And their efforts to avoid anything that reminds them of the birth may goas far as seeking an abortion if they become pregnant again.
Now a voluntary group called PNPTSD (Post Natal Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is carrying out a survey of women who feel they have been affected by a traumatic birth within the last five years.
The results will be presented to the Commons All-Party Group on Maternity Services with the hope of preventing other women from having similar experiences.
Co-ordinator Maureen Treadwell, of Hampshire, said: "Part of the problem is that there is a lot of pressure about how wonderful it is to have a baby. People feel they're somehow weird if they feel differently, if they have had a horrible experience.
"This has clearly been around for donkey's years. When we did our original study 10 years ago, one woman wrote to us who had had her baby in 1912. There has to be an acknowledgement that childbirth isn't always that great."
Maureen became involved in the cause after suffering from PTSD following the birth of her first child. "I was operated on without anaesthetic. Afterwards I had recurring nightmares, but I was told I was suffering from post-natal depression."
She believes the health service should be less obsessed with meeting targets, such as reducing the number of Caesareans, and more focused on the needs of individual patients.
"The aim should be that the woman comes out of hospital happy with the service she has received.
"In our last survey, control was the major issue. If a woman feels things are being done to her with which she is not in agreement, she is more likely to suffer from post natal post traumatic stress disorder.
"The classic case is where a woman goes in and knows she has a complication with the baby. The baby's big, they try a forceps delivery, she gets ripped around, and then has to have an emergency Caesarean.
"People with PTSD have to avoid anything that reminds them, but for women recovery can be difficult because they have a baby there. A lot of people with PTSD have bonding problems and you get women unable to bring up their baby." Tim Hollingbery, a consultant clinical psychologist with Dorset HealthCare NHS Trust, said: "PTSD can happen because childbirth itself has been terribly traumatic, perhaps because of an emergency procedure, or because the outcome has been a stillbirth.
"The person may have felt particularly out of control, or perceive that the care she received was awful. Afterwards you can suffer recurrent dreams, invasive thoughts, flashbacks to the trauma.
"Weeks, months, and even years afterwards, people can feel they're back in the situation. In very rare cases, some will develop those symptoms every time they see a baby or a child."
Mr Hollingbery has personally come across cases where the experience of having a baby reawakened an earlier trauma of being sexually abused as a child. He has also seen a couple of cases where women developed PTSD after anaesthetic given for a caesarean did not work properly.
"There hasn't been much research on PTSD in childbirth, but something between one per cent and five per cent of women suffer. It can be difficult to differentiate from post-natal depression," he added.
"It's bound to affect the relationship with the child so it's important to get early help. Talk to your midwife, health visitor or GP - they will know how to access help.
"One of the first things is being aware of what it is: that you're not mad. It's uncommon, but not unheard of, for women to suffer this kind of reaction.
"The sooner help can be delivered, the less damaging the effects on the family, and the relationship between mother and child."
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