Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after Childbirth

C. is in her 30ties and came to see me 2 1/2 years after the birth of her first child, because she felt that she had never been the same since. She had experienced the birth as extremely traumatic, and referred to it as a major turning point in her life.

Since then she was suffering from fear of serious illness, death, accidents, being poisoned, driving in the car, and a general fear of being exposed to life. Those fears were with her almost all the time, and she couldn’t control them. She had problems with nightmares, and frightful visions when half awake, and at times she was waking herself and her husband up screaming from the night visions.

The birth process was full of complications and C. lost a lot of blood. She was aware of how quickly it could be over, and that it was quite a close call. Initially they had problems to stop the bleed, which scared her when she heard about it afterwards.

“There was lots of medical intervention, which I never wanted and mostly happened against my will. I was denied taking homeopathic remedies. I firmly believe that some things could have had a different outcome, if I had been allowed them, and even if it was just to make me feel better.”

“Everything went black for a moment, I was aware of it. My blood pressure was very low and they couldn’t get a line in. The procedures felt like torture, I felt abused and violated. I was helpless and couldn’t do anything, they didn’t talk to me, they let me wait in pain for many hours, I couldn’t breathe and thought I am going to suffocate.”

Because of her traumatic experience C. believed she had never really bonded with her daughter, and at times felt resentful towards her, which made her feel bad about herself.

“I couldn’t care for my baby, because I was so sick – like getting up in the middle of the night, feeding her etc? That was the other major thing for me, not being able to be a mother – I just wanted to be a ‘good enough’ mother, but even that I wasn’t able to be.”

Overall she felt that this experience robbed her of anything positive she ever believed in spiritually.

C. always had a strong bond with her deceased grandmother. This connection made her feel ok about death etc. Now she wasn’t sure.

“I believe I could have died. All I was aware of is the blackness, what if that’s it?”

A week after her remedy C. checked in with me on the phone. Her sleep was much better, she was losing the plot less in arguments with her husband, she had a nightmare and it was less scary. The most important thing though was, that she felt positive about having her daughter. Before she could only access the blackness and trauma.

Another week later she told me that she could feel the love for her daughter for the first time. Before it was more like a thought, not an emotional experience.

In the last 3 1/2 months none of the disturbing PTSD symptoms have returned. C. continues treatment with Homeopathy now focusing on health issues that were present before the birth of her daughter.

What C. says now:

“When I look back, that day is the day when I met my daughter for the first time, and not the day I could have lost my life. For me this is the essence of it all and the most important thing. I am smiling now when I think about the moment I saw her for the first time.”

This case was submitted by Ingrid Bryant, a registered member of NZCH, who has a homeopathic practice in Hastings. For contact details please refer to Find a Homeopath on this website.