Giving birth is never easy, but for some women it is so traumatic that it leads to the development of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recently, a number of experts called for more support to be offered to people in such situations, WalesOnline reports.
One of the treatments available for individuals with psychological trauma like this is
eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing. Experts with EMDR training can often help those who struggle to control their anxiety.
Recently, reader in perinatal psychology at Cardiff University Dr Ian Jones suggested that knowledge concerning the psychological problems that can arise due to child birth has improved over recent times.
He said: “Childbirth was excluded from the original definition of PTSD because it was thought the trigger needed to be something extraordinary and outside the bounds of normal human experience. That’s changed now because we do see women whose experience of childbirth is so traumatic to them that they experience very classic and typical PTSD symptoms.”
Meanwhile, leader of the all-Wales perinatal mental health group Grace Thomas is currently in the process of examining the provision of mental health support for women.
She commented: “PTSD is a specific condition, which is quite rare and must be diagnosed clinically. We should be offering women the opportunity to speak in detail about their experiences, if that’s what they want.”
One of those to have experienced psychological trauma when giving birth was mother-of-two Bec Walters. She has set up a website to help women affected by the condition, some of whom may have sought the assistance of experts with EMDR training.
Commenting on her motivation for establishing the online resource, the 38-year-old said it makes her sad to think that other women who have had such difficulties become to scared to have another child and feel they are unable to carry on living their lives.