Ep 186: Recognizing Birth Trauma with Christie Sheffer, CPM

Happy Homebirth

What is birth trauma, and how can we move through it? This week we're speaking to Christie Sheffer, a Certified Professional midwife who also created the Perinatal Trauma Center. Today we are going to be discussing birth trauma, what it is, how it oftentimes presents, and how it impacts us and our loved ones. Christy has recorded this interview, and she also recorded a follow up discussion for the Home birth collective. So she's one of our guest experts inside of the Home birth Collective, where she gave practical tips on how to prevent birth trauma and then how to heal from it afterwards if it were to happen. Episode Roundup:

1. The first one being that trauma is a physical response. It's not an emotional feeling. It's something that we physically experience inside of our bodies. And it's when our body thinks that an event is happening in real time, it cannot differentiate or distinguish past from present. So when we go to heal our trauma, we are simply trying to show our body that it is safe right now. What a blessing to be able to give our bodies that.
2. If you have experienced birth trauma, whether you deem it yourself big or small, it is worth healing. It is worth digging through and finding the truth and healing it. Your trauma impacts your day to day functioning whether you recognize it or not. It also has implications on your family, on your children, on your spouse. For us to be able to work through our own healing, we also provide healing for those around us. What a wonderful example to everyone around us.
3. Finally, if you are finding yourself feeling uncomfortable when you talk about your birth, when the idea of birth comes out, when your friend mentions her birthing plans, that's when we want to really check-in and make sure that we are getting the support that we need.

Be sure to checkout Christie's website and the amazing self-diagnostics quiz that she has so that you can see where you fall in terms of how you are processing you Birth experience. Resources: FREE Homebirth Essentials Guide Happy Homebirth Collective