Traumatic Birth Trauma

Summary: This article describes how emotionally and physically challenging stillbirth can be to its victims. Stillbirth which is “the birth of an infant that has died in the womb after having survived through at least the first 28 weeks of pregnancy”, is not only challenging for the mother of the baby, but it affects the whole family as well. Per to this article, stillbirth affects about 1 in 200 pregnancy and that’s in the U.S only, because

Many women choosing to have an abortion are unaware of the psychological effects it will have on them. Many are affected for years or maybe even lifetime after the procedure. Abortion can affect each woman differently, some claim that abortion has negative effects on women’s mental health. Women have abortions for different reasons within different personal, social, economic, and cultural contexts. All of these may lead to variability in women’s psychological reactions following the abortion. This paper will focus on answering the following questions:

A constructive critique of the research into women’s experiences of becoming a mother after prolonged labour.

After reading, it is logical and makes sense that higher the amount of exposure to childhood trauma would affect someone later in life. These experiences have the ability to cause greater health issues because of it (Stevens, 2014). This aligns with my working knowledge of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) research which I have learned from my mentor. This topic is big for her as she works with children and families in our communities for a living. She is aware of my past of being in foster care and has educated me how ACE research pertains to me. A while back she started naming off experiences, asking if I had them in my life, with the goal of educating me about how high my ACE score is and that it makes sense that I got cancer three years

Historically perinatal loss such as stillborn is rarely a topic of discussion. (Avelin, Erlandsson, Hildingsson, & Rådestad, 2011). Stillborn loss was not viewed as an problem, and was expected for mothers to forget about the baby, and have another one, while siblings were told to forget about the baby and not talk about the loss (Avelin et al., 2011). Perinatal loss responses can be vary widely as it covers variety of loss from pregnancy to birth within a few weeks, but most often it is an unexpected loss for many families who typically do not know what to do, what to expect and how to handle grief (O’leary & Warland, 2013). Furthermore, there is very little information on Stillbirth experiences especially about men who lose their child(Bonnette & Broom, 2012). Experiencing the loss of a child can be very difficult and often complicate grief which can affect parents social well being (Kersting & Wagner, 2012). In pregnancies that follows a loss such as perinatal loss, it has been found that parents experience high levels of psychological distress, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. (O’leary & Warland, 2013; Kersting & Wagner, 2012)

Sharon Salzberg once said, “As we look around, it's very clear that in this world people do outrageous things to one another all of the time. It's not that these qualities or actions make us bad people, but they bring tremendous suffering if we don't know how to work with them”. The wake of devastation abortion leaves behind could not be described better. It is argued that it is the woman’s body; therefore it is the woman’s choice. What many do not know, however, is that abortion not only affects the mother, but the father, and of course the child. Guilt, anger, anxiety, depression, broken relationships, “numbing”, and even suicide; all of these are symptoms of Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS). PAS is the emotional/psychological damage women may experience after having an abortion. According to Dangers of Legal Abortion by Ann Saltenberger, women who have had abortions are nine times more likely to attempt suicide than women in the general population. Men, or the father, portray a range of emotions after their partner’s abortion. These include grief, guilt,

For hundred of years, women have wrestled with their womanhood, bodies, and what it means to be a woman in our society. Being a woman comes with a wonderful and empowering responsibility--giving birth. What sets us aside from other countries is that the process and expectations of giving birth has changed in our society; coming from midwifery, as it has always been since the early times, to hospitals where it is now expected to give birth at. Midwifery was a common practice in delivering babies in

The American discourse around childbirth pain management includes mostly narcotic pain killers, epidurals and other sources of pain medication while the Middle Eastern discourse around labor pain management includes meditation, herbal substances and breathing exercises. This is important because America’s attitude towards hospitals and doctors is so trusting that we don’t stop and think about what we are putting into our bodies and we blindly accept what they are giving us because it is considered, for the majority, culturally acceptable. Many Middle Eastern women on the other hand, are not allowed to see male doctors, therefore they give birth solely with the help of midwives who have little access to medication and can only help through

Nicole Barle, Camille Wortman, and Jessica Latack from Stony Brook university wrote traumatic bereavement basic research and clinical implications. In their article they reviewed basic research on domains of life affected by traumatic loss and the risk factors that survivors are vulnerable to such as traumatic bereavement. In the article it for the describes the comprehensive treatment approach which is three critical components building resources processing trauma in facilitating morning. Traumatic death leaves the host with many troubling issues that are not typically present following a natural death because not only do they have to deal with the death of their loved 1 but also with the destruction of there most basic life assumptions. The

Birth and death practices in Somalia are both based on longstanding religious practices and cultural traditions, but the birth experience is largely the domain of women. For instance, Hernlund and Shell-Duncan (2007) report that, "In Somalia, giving birth is an activity exclusively restricted to the women's sphere" (p. 122). A study on birthing experiences of Somalia women conducted in Sweden, though, found that when given the opportunity, most Somalia women preferred the nontraditional approach to delivery in which the husband was present. In this regard, Hernlund and Shell-Duncan (2007) report that, "Practically all the Somali women who had given birth in Sweden stated that their husbands were present at delivery" (p. 123). The majority of the Somalia women in this study characterized the birthing experience as being positive, and some of the subjects indicated that more Somali men should be present during deliveries because it would help them understand the rigors and ordeals that are involved in the process as this would make their husbands more attentive to their needs in the future (Hernland & Shell-Duncan, 2007).

Although once thought to be a rare disorder, recent statistics show that Accreta occurs as often as once in every 533 deliveries (Wu, Kocherginsky & Hibbardm, 2005). The outcomes for mother and baby can be life threatening due to massive blood loss and the need for an emergency hysterectomy to control bleeding, even when Accreta is diagnosed early in the antepartum period. Those couples not diagnosed early, experience a traumatic delivery for which they and their partner were not prepared. Those couples who were diagnosed early, experience months of stress, fear, and uncertainty as they await the birth of their child and fear for the life of both the mother and infant. Even when both mother and baby survive, the experience leaves a lasting mark on the lives of the couple and their family. However, to date no studies have been reported that examined the long term impact of an Accreta experience on women and their partners.

The importance of providing support for women who have a history of miscarriage has increased in the last decade, not only during the following months after the loss, if not in their subsequent pregnancies. Consequently, it is increasingly recognized that having previous miscarriage can be related with psychological and mental health disorders in their next pregnancies (Lok I.H, 2007; Hutti, Armstrong & Myers, 2011). Also, it is well-documented that women who have a history of miscarriage show higher levels of anxiety and depression in their subsequent pregnancies (Cote-Arsenault, 2014; Bergner A, 2008; Cote-Arsenault, 2007; Armstrong DS, 2004; Amstrong, 2002; Cote-arsenault & Dombeck, 2001; Geller, Klier, & Neugebauer, 2001; Gong X, 2013).

The theory I selected to apply to the above situation is the Birth Territory theory. This theory was created from empirical data collected by the authors who serve as both midwives and researchers. It has a critical post-structural feminist undertone and elaborates on the ideas of Michel Foucault. The Birth Territory theory predicts and elaborates on the relationships between jurisdiction (use of authority and influence), terrain (the birthing environment), and personal emotional and physiological experience by the mother. This nurse-midwifery theory was chosen because both of the major concepts directly correlate with the incident and are critical aspects of labor and delivery situations. MAYBE ELABORATE A diagram of the Birth Territory theory can be seen in Appendix A.

Childbirth is a beautiful thing. After the hours of labor, there is nothing more special than having the newly mother able to hold her child the minute after it’s born. It makes the pain that you had just experienced go away because all that matters in the world is that newborn child in your arms. During labor, every woman has her own experience but one common experience is the pain. According to Kitzinger (1978) “Labor pain can have negative or positive meaning, depending on whether the child is wanted, the interaction of the laboring woman with those attending her, her sense of ease or dis-ease in the environment provided for birth, her relationship with the father of her child and her attitude to her body throughout the reproductive

According to London et al. (2014), stillbirth is defined as the “death of a fetus or infant from the time of conception through the end of the newborn period 28 days after birth” (p. 481). In 2011, in the country of Taiwan, there were a total of 2,321 stillborn births and it was reported that 60% of the women who experienced this loss suffered from severe postpartum depression within 4 years (Tseng, Chen, & Wang, 2014, p. 219). Although it is known that the mothers of these infants suffer with traumatic stress, follow-ups after stillbirths are rare and there is no community support groups available. There is not much information available on the experience of Taiwanese women who experience a stillbirth nor is there information about the steps taken by these women to recover from their loss. Thus, this study seeks to understand the experiences of these Taiwanese women who have experienced the loss of an infant and how they cope within their society (Tseng et al., 2014, p. 219).