IMPACT OF THE OVERLAP OF BIRTH TRAUMA & GRIEF
The Impact Of The Overlap Of Birth Trauma Symptoms and Grief.
Are you afraid you will never recover from your high anxiety and panic attacks living with birth trauma symptoms after losing your baby? Do you have the sense or feeling that you will never be able to experience the beauty of life again? Are you constantly trying to fix yourself?
When working with birth trauma symptoms, it is essential to recognize that birth trauma symptoms are not a weakness or mental illness. They are a natural response to a traumatic event, which is normal. It is a psychological injury recovering from an injury rather than a mental illness; effective recovery treatment is to break the neural pathway so that the memory can be released into the long-term memory stored in the brain, reducing its impact on you. It is helpful to understand that they are both different because the experience you are experiencing is very natural, given what you have been through, and your brain is trying to process and protect you from the pain. Birth Trauma symptoms are not a mental health illness; however, if you have been living with them for so long, it can be very unhelpful to your emotional, psychological, and physical well-being.
There is often an overlap of grief and Traumatic Birth symptoms, resulting in multi-layered Trauma; the loss itself can be traumatic, leaving a parent feeling out of control and powerless. This activates the fight-flight-freeze response and releases stress hormones into the body; the brain's prefrontal cortex goes offline. While the emotion center of the brain becomes dominant, leading to brain fog and difficulty processing new information, and the amygdala and hippocampus involved in emotions and memory are activated, leading to difficulty concentrating, increased hyperarousal, hypervigilance, disturbed sleep, and anxiety, leading to panic attacks.Â
The symptoms of grief can overlap, and the prolonged release of cortisol hormones can put the immune system under pressure, impacting physical well-being. Grief itself can be experienced as physical pain, and Trauma can be stored and experienced in the body. Trauma symptoms can disrupt the grief cycle; the ongoing processes of investigations, funerals, post-mortems, and supervision can also be traumatic. As a result, many parents can become isolated, avoiding places, people, and situations related to the birth story in an attempt to avoid thinking about the experience. Triggers can start to feel threatening, leading to internal conflict and avoidance. Hypervigilance, being constantly on alert, can affect a parent's thinking and feelings.  Experiencing baby loss can keep the nervous system in a heightened state, leaving a person feeling unsafe, anxious and hypervigilant. Living with the constant activation of the brain’s fight, flight or freeze system is draining and can lead to health issues, as it suppresses the immune system.
Coping with anxiety through self-medication with substances may provide short-term relief but is unhelpful overall. Even after recovery, the trauma can be retriggered by another pregnancy, impacting life significantly. Some may try to resist trauma-triggering stimuli, avoiding reminders and discussions, but this can lead to numbness about the event. All these responses are natural reactions to a complex and potentially life-threatening situation. There is no need for fear, shame or guilt; your feelings are a natural response to an abnormally challenging and stressful event. Following women after a traumatic birth provides insights into the diverse ways they may respond. ​
​The following list outlines various birth trauma symptoms taken from the City Birth Scale. These are classified as follows:
Avoidance symptoms
o Trying to avoid thinking about the birth
o Not being able to remember details of the birth
o Avoiding things, people and places that remind you of the birth
•Negative mood and cognitions
o Feeling irritable or aggressiveoFeeling negative about yourself
o Feeling self-destructive or acting recklessly
o Experiencing strong emotions
o Being unable to access positive emotions
o Feeling lonely and detached from others
o Feeling anger, rage, shame, blame and guilt
o Being scared that something terrible will happen
o Losing interest in hobbies and interests
•Hyperarousal symptoms
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o Having nightmares and flashbacks to the birth and reliving the experience
o Being hypervigilant – getting startled easily, being unable to rest or relax, feeling nervous tension and being on edge
o Feeling emotionally numb
o Being irritableoExperiencing high anxiety and panic
•Intrusion symptoms
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o Having recurrent thoughts or feelings about the birth
o Ruminating
o Feeling upset when reminded of the birth
Understanding and acknowledging these symptoms is crucial in healing and recovery. Anxiety, high anxiety, is a trauma symptom and is part of grief. Anxiety is when a person feels a perceived or actual threat of danger to themselves or others. The shock of losing someone is very traumatic, which can trigger a physiological response in the body.
​​​THE IMPACT OF GRIEF ON THE BODY
Grief is a natural response to loss, affecting both our emotional and physical health in various ways. When we experience a traumatic event resulting in loss, it disrupts the usual flow of emotions in the grief cycle, impacting our bodies significantly.
Firstly, crying, often misunderstood as a sign of weakness, actually has benefits. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, helping to relax the body. Emotional tears release chemicals like oxytocin and endorphins, acting as natural painkillers.
Secondly, grief can weaken the immune system and increase inflammation. This is partly due to changes in stress hormone levels such as cortisol, which affect immune function. Lower levels of immune cells can increase susceptibility to illness.
Thirdly, grief affects appetite. It can lead to changes such as loss of appetite or increased hunger due to altered hormone production and increased cortisol levels. Physical symptoms like nausea or changes in taste can further impact eating habits.
Fourthly, grief disrupts sleep patterns. High cortisol levels and physical symptoms like headaches or muscle tension can make it hard to relax and sleep. Racing thoughts and emotional challenges also contribute to sleep disturbances.
Overall, grief can lead to fatigue and a feeling of being overwhelmed, affecting energy levels and increasing the likelihood of accidents. Grounding techniques can help provide comfort and support during this challenging time.
UNDERSTANDING BURNOUT FROM THE OVERLAP OF GRIEF, BABY LOSS AND BIRTH TRAUMA SYMPTOMS
Understanding burnout is essential when attempting to cope with the demands of life, particularly during periods of intense grief and trauma. When we are going through these challenges, we are typically unaware of the high-stress state we may find ourselves in. Burnout, defined as a syndrome of chronic stress that persists as a result of ongoing traumatic symptoms or prolonged and complicated grief, tends to manifest over an extended period. It represents a state of physical, mental or emotional exhaustion – an understandable outcome given the circumstances.
Three primary components of burnout contribute to its manifestation:
Emotional exhaustion: The first component involves emotional exhaustion, where the continuous strain and stressors deplete one’s emotional resources. The overwhelming nature of traumatic birth symptoms and prolonged grief can contribute significantly to this form of exhaustion.
Depersonalisation: The second component, depersonalisation, reflects a sense of detachment from one’s own experiences and emotions. It occurs as a defence mechanism in response to prolonged stress, creating psychological distance as a means of self-preservation.
Lower personal accomplishment: The third component involves diminished personal accomplishment. This component reflects a reduced belief in one’s ability to achieve goals and succeed, often stemming from the constant challenges posed by ongoing traumatic experiences.
Recognising and addressing these components is crucial for preventing and mitigating burnout. Taking the initiative by taking steps to manage chronic stress, seeking support and incorporating self-care practices can contribute to resilience and a more sustainable approach to coping with the demands of life amid trauma and grief.
THE BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH ME
You will have a safe space to open up and share your birth story (if you want to!). All those heavy-weighted emotions will be released, and you will start to feel calmer and more grounded.
You will start to feel a sense of hope again, feel more emotionally balanced, and open up to the possibility that there is so much more for you to create in your life that you love.
Make conscious, intentional choices and actions for your emotional, mental, and physical well-being; become a conscious creator living in the creative structure; trust yourself, putting yourself first and not trying to fix yourself; trust your intuitive self and become the person you want to create; remember you and honour your journey and your baby's life - a legacy of love for you.​