The Hidden Price of Birth Trauma by Joy Wisdom

Why Children, Can’t Afford anymore Medical, Parental, Societal Blindness

Birth Trauma: The Silent Crisis

Every year, thousands of families silently carry the weight of birth trauma. For too long, a mother’s influences have been dismissed as “baby blues” or “just hormones.” But the truth is clear: ignoring birth trauma comes with staggering health costs for parents, for children and society. I wrote about this crisis in my women’s and children’s health book ‘Pregnancy & Birth a New Generation’ over a decade ago, the today are worse grown to new proportions, health influences, costs have grown to alarming proportions. No ducks in a row or realisations of equivalent ‘car crash’ shock, trauma influences birth leaves. 

The Human Toll – long term impacts, palpable via psychological health

• UK, untreated perinatal mental health costs £8.1 billion each year.

• 1 in 7 mothers experience postnatal depression.

• Up to 18% develop PTSD after birth.

• 1 in 10 fathers suffer depression, rarely acknowledged.
  

Infants are far from immune. Stress at birth increases risks of anxiety, depression, ADHD, teen suicide later in life. Terms given of “fussy babies” are unhelpful, when children are carrying invisible complex trauma hurts and wounds! Professional understanding has a lot to be desired around birth trauma.

In a car crash situation we would have emergency services in place, arriving immediately, blue lights flashing.

Truth is birth trauma outcomes are unseen yet psychologically, as bad or worse than a car crash. Birth Trauma results in underlying PTSD, vast adverse childhood trauma (ACE). Long term health risks are inevitable and variable, studies show symptoms linger for many years. The impact on the new born catastrophic, deep imprints remain.

Astonishing in our enlightened age! Nothing exists to correct or acknowledge an adverse birth experience. Medical professionals are not taught; understanding is poor, no help or service exist. 

Holistically solutions exist. I learnt that 25 years ago, successful trauma skills applied early, help to ward off, prevent further psychological, body-mind risks, not rocket science to prevent, avoid human and economic toll.

Yet 25 years on, not common knowledge or generally known to society!

The Economic Toll

• Globally, WHO estimates over $1 trillion in productivity loss annually.
  

When trauma goes unrecognised, families pay many times, in many ways. In health, psychologically, economically. Mothers may leave careers due to their personal outcomes from birth trauma, partner and relationship impacts happen. Parents struggle with worry and depression; families spend many hours trying to find appropriate help.  And when they do is it deep enough or effective enough? Because talking therapies are not the answer when trauma is involved. Additionally, infants cannot fill out a consultation form, specialist help is required. An integrated body-mind trauma specialist who can look beyond the symptoms and deal with the core issues and fast moving domino effect happening to infant or adult.  Slow down symptoms, eliminate trauma impacts to reduce the fractious influences building, rippling to everyone. When working with birth trauma, parent, grandparent and siblings are also involved, the bigger family picture needs to be considered.

Parents are worried, out of their depth trying to find the solution, with their health being affected too! Health care professionals often don’t know either.  I had the same issue with my son, a fast birth good for me shock for him; I was told ‘he will grow out of it’. The fobbed off approach does not help with a fractious child at 3am in the morning!

Essentially, I learnt to my cost that midwives, paediatric staff, health visitors, GPs don’t know, not taught! Parents struggle with no understanding of their child’s predicament! Worse when we are not listened to. Without help children internalise their trauma. Causing further invisible wounds, infant feels abandonment, rejection at not being helped or supported. Vulnerabilities are formed from this early tragic start to life.

The ripple effect is vast:

In the UK, untreated perinatal mental health costs £8.1 billion each year.

• £1.2bn in NHS care

• £1.6bn in lost productivity

• £5.3bn in long-term impacts on children

• Globally, WHO estimates over $1 trillion in productivity loss annually.
  

What about the paternal health of mother and child I hear you say…!  Impossible to quantify. Future health risks are inevitable and often raises its head when parenthood is arriving! A cost, that will out way any productivity costs for sure!

Priority of investment in children’s birth health is critical to avoid and prevent the catastrophe of psychological issues growing today. It warrants upshifting birth trauma awareness, improving health care understanding with professionals upshifted reality education. Parental education and safeguarding children’s lives.

Preparing parents for what might happen at birth. Giving them facts with informed choice.  Time safeguarding programmes were put in place, where emotional trauma release therapy on hand to act immediately. 

Don’t leave children trapped in a situation that is not their doing. Equal to a lifetime prison sentence of detriment and unhappiness.

Take away the Blind Spot

Suffering is not inevitable. It stems from medical, societal misunderstanding and blindness:

We cannot afford to continue this outdated thinking, telling parents ….

• Emotional, physical  trauma pain is “normal.”

• Infants labelled as “difficult.” When living shock, PTSD and complex trauma from birth event.

• Fathers overlooked entirely. Feeling frustrated, helpless and hopeless, overlooked in decisions.

• Interventions such as C-section, Vontae and forceps are treated as routine, with no follow-up or interest on emotional or cognitive impacts. Once left hospital department it becomes someone else’s problem ! 
  

No joined up thinking exists in Birth trauma or long erm issues.

Disjointed actions still exists, thinking antidepressants are the answer for adults… when adds further risks with addiction, essentially a plaster approach ineffective at best. Escalating bigger risks to parent and child. Missing the point, interfering at bonding stages, ineffective in safeguarding children. There is no pill that fixes birth trauma.

Logic is missing too.  If a child or infant in critical stages of development are exposed to a person or home of anxiety and depression, cognitively the infant is affected. Recent trials have proved this logical outcome for children.  Unfortunately no common sense is registered in these circumstances. We should not have to wait for science to prove something that is already happening. Missing the point in ‘result of’ reason outcome living vs theory.

An integrated combo approach works. Understanding psychological and biological influences, stress hormones, PTSD and system out of sync impacts to treat birth trauma effectively. A direct hands on approach, realigning internal states, helping to return gut activity, biological, chemical responses to normal.  Frazzled CNS nervous and Neurological impacts out of chaos back to normal service.  The body-mind-emotion is a set of complex impacts, unique to each infant and/or parent.

As a parent or a family member, experiences the shock of birth trauma,  their own birth memories may return, resurrected shock and emotions, bringing further complications to unravel. Why an integrated ‘client focus’ approach is essential to ensure trauma is eliminated completely, not just for now.. because although buried, it can return, morph into one form or another, body-mind impact at some point, if we don’t eradicate completely. 

We are all born and trillions live with deep levels of trauma.

Trauma exists at birth, with complex trauma. From Joy’s extensive experience every child should receive an emotional, trauma release session after birth, even natural birth is traumatic for both mother and baby.

A prevention programme worth having. JWT offers pre-post birth programmes for parent and infant a quick and effective relaxing method that helps enormously. 

Mostly, todays idea of treatment only deals with the top levels of trauma, as professionals we still have a lot to learn regarding trauma and the depth of levels involved!  Dissolve and Resolve Emotions (D.A.R.E emotional, trauma release) accesses deeper dive levels, getting to core reasons. 

The Awakening

Awakening is simple yet profound: Birth trauma is not just a personal wound. It is a public health and economic crisis causing physical and psychological harm daily.

Urgent implementation of Change means:

1. Education upshifts: Upshifting Trauma-informed maternity and paediatrics Upshifting understanding of the reality level of impacts of shock and trauma.

2.   Parental fact sheets giving information with informed choice

3.   Screening parents and infants for trauma.

4. Action with emotional release methods to prevent and avoid incidences of PPD/PND/PTSD to primarily mother, parent.

5.  Part of the bonding and emotional release action strategies in place for every birth.

6.  Recognising infant stress signals.

7. Understanding Adverse childhood experiences (A.C.E) with long term health impacts. Early action reduces chronic health impacts, long term into adulthood.

8. Root-cause therapies like D.A.R.E. helps to dissolve trauma imprints and restore resilience.

Benefits are a no brainer:

Vast reduction to economic strain we have today in health and services. Globally, reducing economic demands and future health impacts by trillions.  Preventing growing psychological demands, improving family unit stability. Reducing critical societal services, social care, education, local council impacts. 

A Call to Action- The cost of ignoring birth trauma is too high. We are not just losing money, we are losing families, futures, and potential. Today health is on a continual decline. Understanding the core elements of birth and the tragedy of shock helps to understand chronic illness, psychological issues and long term outcomes for both child and parent.

Critical health benefits come from investment in awareness, prevention, and care. When we heal trauma at its root, we don’t just protect one family, we strengthen society for generations to come.

More importantly we protect our future children.

Because it is madness what we are doing at the moment, involved from birth!

Joy Wisdom founder of Joy Wisdom Trust.

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