Nov 11, 2008 3:58 pm US/Eastern
Some Moms Can Suffer From PTSD After Childbirth
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Post-traumatic stress disorder is usually seen in soldiers who've returned from the war zone, but some mothers can actually suffer from the condition after a difficult childbirth.
Jodi Kluchar still remembers the intense pain and fear she felt after a complicated emergency C-section several years ago. "I was surprised to be awake because I thought I was going to die."
Jodi gave birth to a healthy baby boy, but says she felt emotionally numb. Nightmares and flashbacks of her son's birth terrified her. She was anxious and depressed. "It was not so much that I was depressed that I would cry all the time. I was just empty. I just wasn't there."
Those feelings carried right into her second pregnancy and Jodi decided she needed help. Her doctor diagnosed her not with post-partum depression, but with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Unlike other post-partum illnesses, PTSD is triggered when a mother perceives that her life or her child's life is in danger.
Birth trauma expert, Dr. Cheryl Beck explains. "The core of their perception of a traumatic childbirth is that during labor and delivery they feel a lack of control of events."
Dr. Cheryl Beck has been studying birth trauma for 25 years. She was recently involved in a study that suggests up to 9 percent of mothers in the U.S. experience this disorder. Dr. Beck says that although many times medical charts will indicate a completely "normal" birth, "a traumatic childbirth is in the eye of the beholder, so that all that matters is the perception of the woman."
There are distinct warning signs that a mother has developed PTSD. Those symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, irritability and avoidance.
"So the person, in this case the woman, is avoiding any memories or any triggers of the trauma, whether it be the hospital, the doctors and sometimes even the baby," said Dr. Sue Varma of the American Psychiatric Association.
The first step toward recovery is finding a mental health specialist. He or she can determine the proper course of treatment which can include medication, therapy or joining a support group.
Jodi has created a support group at
www.ptsdafterchildbirth.org.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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