Birth Trauma Therapy
A space to process frightening, unexpected, or traumatic pregnancy, birth, NICU, or postpartum experiences.
Your birth may have been an emergency. It may have been long and frightening, or it may have looked "fine" from the outside while you felt terrified, unheard, or out of control inside. Maybe your baby spent time in the NICU, or complications after birth left you shaken. And now people keep saying, "At least everyone's healthy."
Both things can be true: you can be grateful your baby is here and still be deeply affected by how you got here. What you went through matters.
Your birth story deserves to be heard, all of it.
How birth trauma can show up
Birth trauma isn't defined by what happened on paper. It's about how it felt to you. Afterward, you might notice:
- Replaying the birth, or having flashbacks or nightmares
- Avoiding reminders: the hospital, doctors' appointments, even talking about it
- Feeling on edge, jumpy, or unable to relax
- Anger, guilt, or blaming yourself for what happened
- Feeling numb, detached, or distant from your baby
- Grieving the birth you hoped for
- Fear of future pregnancies or medical care
These reactions are your mind and body trying to make sense of something overwhelming. Partners who witnessed a difficult birth can feel them too.
How therapy helps
Many moms haven't had a chance to tell their full story, the parts that were frightening, confusing, or painful, to someone who can simply hold it with them. Therapy offers that space, at your pace.
Together, we work to:
- Understand what happened and how it's affecting you now
- Ease the intensity of difficult memories and body reactions
- Release guilt and self-blame that doesn't belong to you
- Reconnect with your body, your baby, and your sense of safety
- Feel more ready to face medical care or a future pregnancy, if that's part of your path
How we work together
Our work is often informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS), helping you understand the different parts of you that carry this experience: the part that's still bracing for danger, the part that feels it should have gone differently, the part that just wants to move on.
When to get help right away
If you're having thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, please seek help now. Call or text 988, call the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-943-5746 (24/7), or go to your nearest emergency room.
You may also find helpful
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Postpartum Anxiety & Depression
Support when motherhood doesn't feel the way you expected, including sadness, anxiety, irritability, overwhelm, guilt, numbness, or feeling unlike yourself.
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Scary or Intrusive Thoughts
Help for unwanted thoughts, checking, reassurance-seeking, fears about your baby's safety, and postpartum OCD, without judgment.
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Pregnancy & Becoming a Parent
Support for anxiety, identity changes, relationship shifts, and the complicated emotions that can come with pregnancy and preparing for parenthood.