"Birth Trauma to Beautiful Birth"

I suffered a lot of trauma from my first son's birth; neglect, mistakes and poor decisions from midwives / hospital staff led to many unnecessary interventions, ending in surgery and leaving me feeling utterly destroyed by the whole experience. I had severe PTSD and couldn’t even think about (let alone talk about) the experience without bursting into tears. I suffered from nightmares and flashbacks and hated how the birth had happened and had long lasting mental and physical effects.

3.5 years later I was pregnant again and I was terrified of having to go through birth again. My midwife noticed my struggles and referred me to Talking Therapies. During these sessions I worked with a lovely lady called Elizabeth who helped me process all the different parts of the traumatic memory, logically going through each section and discussing the facts we knew and the beliefs I held about the memory.

Elizabeth really gave me the time to tell my story, to cry and lay all the truth out there without feeling judged or uncomfortable. She helped me to get into a much better mindset surrounding not only how I viewed my previous birth but also how I was preparing for my next birth. She was able to help me feel validated in my experience and the trauma I received at the hands of others that I should have been able to trust. She helped me with coping methods and skills that allowed me to finally focus on the beautiful side of my son's birth - that I had a healthy thriving baby and I was a healthy thriving mum - despite all of the trauma!

The therapy really helped me to see that birth differently. I was also encouraged to make healthy choices for my upcoming birth and she helped me navigate the midwives and their demands in a calm, confident and informed way.

I went on to decline induction and birthed my daughter at 42+4 weeks, in the peace and comfort of my own home! It was a wonderful birth, without all of the trauma this time, and I felt it was very healing and powerful to experience labour and birth in such a natural and positive way.

Now I can look back at both my births in a positive light - for they have both taught me very important lessons about myself and the world we live in. Both births have given me my wonderful children who I love dearly and I am in such a great place now mentally surrounding the experiences, and I would like to thank Talking Therapies and Elizabeth for being such a big help in achieving that!