How birth trauma really hits mums

Study highlights psychological impact labour has on women

- BY LYNNE KELLEHER

A NEW Irish study has shed light on the hidden toll of birth trauma, highlighting how some mothers experience symptoms like flashbacks and nightmares.

The research, conducted with women attending Ireland's first psychological birth trauma clinic at Dublin's Rotunda Hospital, found they often felt they had failed, were failed by others or feared for their own life or their baby's during birth.

"Psychological birth trauma is really common and can seriously compromise a woman's quality of life and impact her bonding," said Dr Richard Duffy, head of the Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service at the Rotunda, which has been running for nearly five years.

The Consultant Psychiatrist stressed that psychological birth trauma is a treatable condition, adding: "There is help."

Therapies at the clinic include eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, which gained attention through Prince Harry's mental health advocacy.

TREATMENT