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Many new parents experience the trauma of their birth. Trauma can consist of being placed under and unresponsive to your baby, C-section trauma, complications at your birth, babies in the NICU, and more. If you have experienced childbirth trauma and you’re ready to heal, here are five ways to repair your nervous system and heal wounds.
See a Trauma Therapist
Trauma can cause feelings of isolation, fear, sadness, and anger. If you’re experiencing strong emotions about your birth trauma, it may be time to seek professional help.
Trauma therapists can help you work through trauma in many ways, including:
- Cure for nightmares
- Structured and self-paced therapy
- Talk about the event when you’re ready
- Spiritual or energy healing
- Resources for PTSD or trauma
A trauma therapist who specializes in grief can help if you’ve recently lost a child. These therapists are trained to deal with complexity of grief trauma.
Spend Time with Loved Ones
Humans are indeed social creatures. We need our loved ones close by when something traumatic happens. Studies show that a secure support system is one of the most important factors in recovery from trauma.
If you’re not ready to talk about what happened, reach out to those you love. See if they are willing to spend time with you to cry, chat, or just distract you. Sometimes the love of a family member is enough to encourage you to keep going.
Start a Birth Diary
Some people find comfort through writing. If you find that you can’t share your story with people close to you or can’t imagine seeing a therapist, you may find solace in journaling about your birth trauma experience.
You can do this in several ways, including:
- Records videos of you talking about the experience, to keep your phone private
- Writing in a diary about the incident, or how you feel about it
- Rewrites your birth day, but changes the details to how you want it to go
Thinking skills may also help you in these difficult times. You can practice deep breathing, imagination, and more. Coloring in a coloring book can help relax your mind. It may seem silly, but adults can color too!
Spend Time With Your Baby
If your baby is at home with you, you can deal with the trauma of birth by spending more time with your child one-on-one. You may feel lost, confused, and scared about your birth. Knowing that your child is in your arms and that you can protect them can kick in your parental instincts and calm the nervous system.
Being close to your child physically and emotionally is not just improve their health and development but can also improve yours.
Practice Self-Care
Self-care can be as simple as lighting a candle and taking a short shower. For parents, sometimes this is all the time we get. Here’s a simple self-care exercise that can help calm you down in no time.
Disclaimer: Have someone else care for your baby/children while practicing these self-care exercises.
- Try to relax each of your five senses, one at a time.
- Start by tasting something calming, like tea.
- Put on a relaxing song or nature sounds that calm you down for the sound.
- For sight, try coloring a mandala or in an adult coloring book. Or look at pictures that make you happy.
- For smell, light a candle with a scent of your choice.
- For touch-ups, use soft clothes, take a shower, or apply lotion to your skin.
You can do these exercises in many different ways. This practice is also part of the DBT manual, a self-regulation guide for those dealing with trauma and emotional dysregulation.
