This week is Birth Trauma Awareness Week, a time to pause, honor, and acknowledge the many people for whom bringing a child into the world was also an experience of fear, loss of control, or lasting pain.

If that sounds like your birth, you’re not alone, and help is available. (You’ll find resources at the end of this blog.)

And if you’re pregnant and wondering about birth trauma, there’s hopeful evidence: having effective support before, during, and after your birth can help.

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What Is Birth Trauma?

Birth trauma refers to the physical and psychological injuries or distress a person can experience during childbirth.¹ It isn’t defined only by what happened medically. It’s shaped by how safe, supported, and in control you felt during your birth. 

What matters is not whether a birth looked complicated from the outside, but how it was experienced by the birthing person.

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More Common Than You Might Think

Birth trauma is more common than many people realize. Research suggests that up to one in three birthing people describe some part of their birth as traumatic.¹

While fewer people go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (typically around 4 to 6 percent), many more experience trauma symptoms without meeting the criteria for a diagnosis. Some studies estimate that’s as many as one in six birthing people.²

For many, the impact lingers, shaping how people feel about their bodies, new parenthood, future pregnancies, and the future.

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Not Everyone Faces the Same Risk

Birth trauma doesn’t affect everyone equally. People facing poverty, discrimination, or systemic barriers to care face heightened risk.

For people who don’t speak English as their primary language, the risk compounds in a specific and painful way: one statewide study found that non-English-speaking patients faced approximately twice the risk of obstetric trauma during vaginal birth compared to English-speaking patients, even after controlling for race and ethnicity.³

When you can’t clearly communicate with the people caring for you in one of the most vulnerable moments of your life, the potential for harm and trauma deepens.

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What Tends to Make a Birth Feel Traumatic

Researchers have asked people who experienced birth trauma what contributed to it, and their answers are remarkably consistent. Common themes include a loss of control, breakdowns in communication, and a lack of emotional support during labor and birth.⁴ ⁵ These experiences are consistently associated with a greater likelihood of a traumatic birth.

It’s important to note that these are risk factors, not requirements. Some people experience clear communication, a sense of agency, and steady support, and still leave their birth carrying trauma. If that’s your story, it doesn’t mean your experience was less valid, or that you’re “supposed” to be okay.

Many people also tell themselves they should be over it because their baby is healthy. But your baby’s well-being and your own emotional experience both matter.

The good news is that we do know one thing that appears to help lower the risk: feeling well supported throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.

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How Doula Support Can Help

Although no one can guarantee a particular birth experience, research suggests that the kind of continuous support doulas provide during pregnancy and birth can meaningfully lower the risk of postpartum PTSD,⁶ ⁷ as well as anxiety and postpartum stress.⁸ Having someone in your corner before, during, and after birth is one of the most consistently protective factors researchers have found.

While you’re pregnant, your doula can help you get the information you need, encourage you to ask questions, and help make sure you feel heard. During your birth, your doula is a consistent, caring, familiar presence, helping you communicate with providers and advocate for yourself. And in the weeks afterward, they’ll listen to your birth story and help you begin processing the experience.

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Access Free Doula Care

If you’re pregnant and live in Linn, Benton, Lincoln, Lane, Marion, or Polk counties in Oregon, and you have Medicaid/OHP (Oregon Health Plan, InterCommunity Health Network, or PacificSource), you may be eligible for free, culturally-matched doula care through the Community Doula Program. Our doulas speak more than ten languages and are matched to your needs, your experiences, and what matters most to you.

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If You’re Living With Birth Trauma Right Now

If reading this brought something up for you, please know: you don’t have to carry it alone, and you don’t need a formal diagnosis to reach out for help.

A therapist who specializes in perinatal mental health or trauma, a support group, or the Postpartum Support International HelpLine (1-800-944-4773, not for emergencies) can all be good places to start. If you’re having thoughts of harming yourself, feel unable to keep yourself safe, or are in another mental health crisis, call or text 988.

Whether your birth was weeks ago or many years ago, support is available. Please reach out.

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Help Families Access Support

Every family deserves compassionate support before, during, and after birth. Community support makes it possible for more families in our region to receive culturally matched doula care at no cost.

If this work resonates with you, please consider a gift today.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition.

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Explore The Research

1. Middleton L. Understanding healing from psychological birth trauma: a lived experience perspective. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2025. doi:10.1111/jmwh.70052
2. Grekin R, O’Hara MW. Prevalence and risk factors of postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder: a meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2014;34(5):389-401. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2014.05.003
3. Sentell T, Chang A, Ahn HJ, Miyamura J. Maternal language and adverse birth outcomes in a statewide analysis. Women Health. 2016;56(3):257-280. PMID: 26361937
4. Hollander MH, van Hastenberg E, van Dillen J, van Pampus MG, de Miranda E, Stramrood CAI. Preventing traumatic childbirth experiences: 2192 women’s perceptions and views. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2017;20(4):515-523. doi:10.1007/s00737-017-0729-6
5. van Heumen MA, Hollander MH, van Pampus MG, van Dillen J, Stramrood CAI. Psychosocial predictors of postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder in women with a traumatic childbirth experience. Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:348. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00348
6. Lai X, Zou L, Chen J, Wang S, Feng J, Lu D, Wang L, Krewski D, Wen SW, Shang H, Xie Rh. Association between doula care and postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder: a mixed-methods study. Midwifery. 2025. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0266613825002578
7. Lai X, Chen J, Lu D, Wang L, Lu X, Chen I, Krewski D, Wen SW, Xie Rh. The association between doula care and childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms: the mediating role of childbirth experience. Birth. 2025;52(2):243-251. doi:10.1111/birt.12874
8. Improved mental health outcomes associated with doula support: a review of the evidence. MGH Center for Women’s Mental Health. Published 2026. Accessed July 2026. https://womensmentalhealth.org/posts/improved-mental-health-outcomes-with-doula-support/