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Birth therapy/birth trauma

BlinkingLight1BlinkingLight1 member
in Natural Birth

I'm not trying to sound dramatic here, but I really think I need birth therapy. I have no confidence in my body's ability to go into labor on its own. I had failed induction resulting in c/s ("FTP") with #1 and induced successful VBAC (at 42w5d) with #2, but every intervention in the book was used and it almost ended in another c/s after 36+ hours of labor. 

I'm planning a home birth for this baby. I'm really afraid of going past 42 weeks and I have no reason to think my body can do it. I've witnessed lots of other births (I'm a birth photographer) and I have so much belief in women's bodies as a whole to give birth.. just not mine. 

I know I didn't go into labor with #2 because mentally I was stressed about it. I need to start mentally relaxing and preparing myself now.

anyway, I guess I just needed to vent a little and see if anyone has any suggestions. I have an awesome doula who is totally confident in me. She teaches Hypnobabies which I will start in September. Thanks :)

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Re: Birth therapy/birth trauma

  • *LrCg**LrCg* member
    As a birth photographer, I'm sure you know how important the mind in during birth.  My first birth was a homebirth- very beautiful; my 2nd the exact opposite- I had a 80% placenta abruption (not in labor) in my 3rd trimester which required an ER c-section.  When we got to the hospital, her heartbeat was gone so I consented to a med free c-section- I felt it all and by the grace of God we had a healthy baby.  It was to say the very least, very traumatic.  I thought I had moved past it and kept thinking about my 1st birth when pregnant with my 3rd.  I was planning a VBAC at home and my midwife even would try to bring it up my birth trauma at pre-natal appointments but I never wanted to deal with it and be what I thought would be weak.  After 36 weeks I kept having pre-term labor (my first 2 kids were born at 37 weeks), but it would just stall out.  When my water finally broke at 39 weeks, I had no contractions and I just totally flipped out (not by the fact that I had no contractions but because all I could think of was that 2nd birth).  She arrived promptly at my house, talked me through it and 2 hours later I had a baby.  It was clear my body just wouldn't do it because I wasn't completely comfortable.  So my advice is start addressing it now otherwise it will be an issue later.  What at the hospital do you think held back labor (you might be so comfortable at home that you may find it progresses much faster)?  Best of luck to you!
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  • MommyKristin88MommyKristin88 member

    image*LrCg*:
    As a birth photographer, I'm sure you know how important the mind in during birth.  My first birth was a homebirth- very beautiful; my 2nd the exact opposite- I had a 80% placenta abruption (not in labor) in my 3rd trimester which required an ER c-section.  When we got to the hospital, her heartbeat was gone so I consented to a med free c-section- I felt it all and by the grace of God we had a healthy baby.  

    Wow, I didn't know that was possible.

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  • *LrCg**LrCg* member
    imageMommyKristin88:

    image*LrCg*:
    As a birth photographer, I'm sure you know how important the mind in during birth.  My first birth was a homebirth- very beautiful; my 2nd the exact opposite- I had a 80% placenta abruption (not in labor) in my 3rd trimester which required an ER c-section.  When we got to the hospital, her heartbeat was gone so I consented to a med free c-section- I felt it all and by the grace of God we had a healthy baby.  

    Wow, I didn't know that was possible.

    It is VERY rare, one doctor said in his 25 years, I was only the 2nd he seen it be done.  The thought process was that I myself had lost so much blood that I was going to pass out soon anyways but I didn't.  They did inject some xylocaine but it didn't have enough time to take effect.  They did put me under as soon as our baby was born.  But had I not consented, our baby would never have lived so to me its all worth it and I get very spoiled on Mother's Day (wink, wink).

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  • nosoup4unosoup4u member

    "Birthing From Within" might be a good book to read, there are some people who are trained with the process you can take classes with (it's on the book's website). Do you have an active local ICAN group? They might be a good source for talking about past and future births, too. And Solace for Mothers is a message board for women who've experienced birth trauma/stress - https://www.solaceformothers.org/mothers-forum.html

    Hope that helps. I was so so so stressed about having a similar birth ending in a c/s with DS2 (he was a VBAC). I could barely talk about it at the time. I hope you have a happy, (emotionally) healing birth with this one!

    DS1 - Feb 2008

    DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)

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  • BlinkingLight1BlinkingLight1 member
    THANK YOU for the support and all the wonderful suggestions. I'm going to look at all of them. :)
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  • Sandy8168Sandy8168 member

    Well, one day you can come see me since I plan to have a private practice working with women who have experienced birth trauma. So yes, birth trauma is very real and can be served by going to therapy and also doing the things that the other women have mentioned.

     Talkbirth.me is also a great resource. If you just google "birth trauma" a wealth of info will come up.Talkbirth is a therapist doing the same type of work. Good luck! You can MOST certainly have the home birth you desire. I wish you all of the good labor juju I can muster.

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  • pixieprincsspixieprincss member

    I participated in the pilot of a birth trauma support group after DS1. Unfortunately, it is still just a local thing. But, some suggestions that came up were the Solace for Mothers forums, ICAN, and hypnotherapy. As for books, I liked the classic Birth Without Fear. Also, reading stories of unassisted births on the mothering.com forum were oddly encouraging. Although that was not my path, it was interesting to read stories of women who believe in their bodies' ability to birth that much. Additionally, I dedicated a lot of appointment time with my CPMs to emotional readiness, I wrote out my previous birth story and shared it to help me "own" it, etc.

    P.S. I had a great second birth, with a great photographer. You are welcome to check it out, here.

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  • cecilyandgautamcecilyandgautam member

    Does your Hypno instructor offer individual hypnotherapy sessions? I might schedule a few extra and sign up for the class earlier than most people do so you can practice the positive affirmations longer. You might also want to work through your previous births with a traditional counselor so that you can recall them without feeling a wave of negative emotions. 

    For me, it really helped meeting with the head midwife of my new practice, going through my prior birth experience - step by step - and her looking me in the eye and saying "you're an excellent candidate for a VBAC. You made good decisions the first time and you have a very good chance of a successful VBAC."

    Also, ICAN is a great resource. Stop on by the VBAC board - the ladies are great there :) 

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