16/07/2026
This week is Birth Trauma Awareness Week, and it's an opportunity to talk about something that affects many families, but the lasting affects often aren’t spoken about.
As a chiropractor, I've been privileged to care for many women during pregnancy and after they've welcomed their babies. As a mum, I also know that birth isn't always the experience we imagined it would be.
Sometimes, a woman will tell me about her birth months later. Sometimes it's years later. Often, it's the first time she's said out loud that she still thinks about what happened, or that she never really felt okay afterwards.
But usually, its a mum who hasn't even announced her next pregnancy, but is already doing everything she can to empower herself and her body, to avoid her previous experience again.
Birth trauma isn't about whether someone else thinks your birth was "bad enough" or whether you and your baby were okay.
It's about how you experienced it.
Two people can go through very similar births and walk away with completely different feelings, and both experiences are valid, and it is okay to have feelings that are less than positive.
It doesn't mean you don't love your baby, or aren't grateful for their existence.
If this post encourages one person to share their story, reach out for support, realise they aren't alone, or their feelings are okay and don't define their motherhood then that's a conversation worth having.
Every birth story deserves to be heard.
