Trauma and Pregnancy Loss
Intrusive memories. Flashbacks. Avoidance. Shame. Hopelessness. A sense of detachment. Easily startled. Self-destructive behavior.
Any of these sound familiar?
These are the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. And, sadly, after a pregnancy loss, many of us experience symptoms of PTSD. Some of us even meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD. In fact, 25% of individuals were diagnosed with PTSD after a pregnancy loss1 . With these rates, mental health professionals need to understand how to support clients using trauma-informed practices.
If you’ve been a long-time reader of my page, you’ve likely read some of my previous posts on trauma: Watching Your Baby Go Down the Drain and Can Pregnancy Loss Lead to PTSD? Yes!
But, in today’s post, I want to focus a bit more specifically on how trauma can manifest for us after a pregnancy loss. If you have experienced a pregnancy loss, at any stage, you can recognize how a survivor could have a PTSD diagnosis: feeling a lack of control in our body, the inability to save an embryo we already love so deeply, experiencing deep physical pain (that can sometimes go unmedicated) as we deliver our dying or dead babies.
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