Birth Trauma
A gentle and safe way to lift traumatic feelings that can remain after a difficult birth or postnatal experience
I would wish for every person to be able to experience pregnancy and birth with nothing but positivity. That’s the dream. But it isn’t always the reality for everyone. Memories of pregnancy and birth last a lifetime, but negative or traumatic memories can impact on physical, mental and emotional health. You don’t have to keep struggling to cope with these difficult emotions. The 3 Step Rewind technique is a way to gently and safely move through your experience so you can look ahead to the future with confidence.
What is birth trauma?
Birth trauma could come from a single event, or a combination of things that took place during pregnancy, birth or postnatally. Feeling out of control or unheard. Being fearful for your or your baby’s welfare. Being treated unkindly or feeling there was an imbalance of power.
This can all contribute to making your experience feel traumatic. Your birth might seem positive to someone else, but perhaps you feel very differently. It is not for anyone else to judge. How you feel about the experience is what matters.
It is extremely normal to be affected by experiences such as these. In many cases it is possible to process what happened and move on without a deeper impact. However, sometimes this doesn’t happen and feelings of anxiety, hypervigilence and other symptoms of trauma remain.
Symptoms can include:
- Tearfulness
- Flashbacks or nightmares
- Anger and irritability
- Recurrent intrusive thoughts and memories
- Feelings of helplessness or panic
- Numbness or avoidance of all reminders of the trauma
- Difficulties in relationships
- Difficulty comprehending ever going through pregnancy or birth again
How the 3 Step Rewind technique works
The 3 Step Rewind technique simply but effectively moves you through your past traumatic experience. You will understand its impact on your life, before looking ahead to a future without these difficult emotions. It uses gentle NLP techniques alongside deep relaxation to release and neutralise the difficult feelings attached to your experience. Your brain can process the memory in a safe environment, without the triggering emotions that are associated with it. In the majority of cases people report a significant diminishing or complete eradication of symptoms and difficult feelings.
If talking about the experience makes you feel uncomfortable then don’t worry.
I don’t need to know your story.
The sessions can be content free. As long as your memory of the experience is there, I can guide you through the process. You are in control every step of the way. This process is still effective years after the event. If the triggering feelings and traumatic symptoms are still there, then the process is helpful in releasing them.
What do the sessions involve?
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
At the start of this pregnancy I was having panic attacks, flashbacks and waking up in a cold sweat thinking about how this birth could be like my first born's.
Working through the event of his birth and what happened, and working with the memories and emotions surrounding this, has really helped me to process how I was feeling. This, with the Hypnobirthing course, has helped me to prepare for the upcoming birth and instead of feeling a blind panic I am writing this feeling calm, excited, empowered and in control. I know if things go to plan, that's amazing, and if they don't I will have the tools I need to respond.