Birth trauma therapy in Leeds and online

A traumatic experience connected with pregnancy or birth can continue to affect you long after the immediate physical danger has passed.

You may find yourself replaying particular moments, feeling angry about what happened or becoming overwhelmed whenever you try to tell the story. You might have nightmares, intrusive memories, panic, guilt or a persistent sense that you or your baby are still unsafe.

You do not need to have a formal diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to seek therapy. If the experience was traumatic for you and continues to affect your wellbeing, relationships or everyday life, it deserves to be taken seriously.

I provide specialist birth trauma therapy in Leeds and online across the UK, using trauma-focused CBT and EMDR.

What is birth trauma?

Birth trauma is not defined only by the type of delivery you had or by whether medical professionals considered the birth an emergency.

Trauma can develop when an experience leaves you feeling intensely frightened, helpless, unsafe, powerless or out of control. How you were treated, what you understood at the time and how the experience affected you can be as important as the medical events themselves.

For this reason, it can sometimes be more helpful to think about trauma during the perinatal period, rather than focusing only on the birth.

Your experience may relate to:

• severe sickness or hyperemesis during pregnancy

• intense anxiety or fear during pregnancy

• pregnancy complications or emergency treatment

• a difficult, painful or frightening labour

• an assisted birth or emergency caesarean birth

• feeling that you were not listened to, believed or properly informed

• examinations, procedures or loss of privacy

• frightening or dismissive communication from healthcare professionals

• feeling pressured into decisions or unable to give meaningful consent

• concerns about your own life or your baby’s survival

• neonatal care or separation from your baby

• a painful, complicated or prolonged physical recovery

• difficulties feeding, sleeping or caring for your baby

• struggling to feel connected to your baby

• a lack of practical or emotional support

• the way your partner or family treated you

• previous experiences of sexual trauma, childhood trauma or medical trauma being triggered.

Sometimes the event that remains most distressing may seem small to somebody else. It might be a particular comment, the expression on somebody’s face, not knowing what was happening or feeling alone at a moment when you desperately needed reassurance.

There is no objective test of whether an experience was “bad enough”. If it felt traumatic to you, its impact matters.

Signs that you may be affected by birth trauma

After a difficult pregnancy or birth, it is common to need time to recover emotionally. For some people, however, the memories and reactions do not settle naturally.

You might notice that you:

• repeatedly replay parts of the experience

• have intrusive images, flashbacks or nightmares

• feel as though the event is happening again

• become distressed by hospitals, medical programmes or other people’s birth stories

• avoid talking about the birth or thinking about another pregnancy

• cannot tell your birth story without becoming overwhelmed

• feel constantly alert, tense, irritable or unsafe

• experience panic, physical anxiety or difficulty sleeping

• feel intense anger towards healthcare professionals or family members

• blame yourself for what happened

• think that you failed, made the wrong decisions or were not strong enough

• feel ashamed, guilty or disconnected from your body

• worry excessively about your baby’s safety

• struggle with closeness, intimacy or medical examinations

• find that the experience has affected your confidence as a mother

• feel frightened about becoming pregnant or giving birth again.

Some people meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Others experience some post-traumatic symptoms or feel deeply affected without meeting the full criteria.

Both are valid reasons to seek support.

Do I need a diagnosis of PTSD?

No. You do not need a diagnosis before contacting me.

As part of the initial assessment, we will talk about what happened, the difficulties you are experiencing now and what you would like to change. Where helpful, I can use a recognised questionnaire to assess symptoms of PTSD and monitor your progress.

The aim is not simply to give you a label. It is to develop a shared understanding of why the experience is still affecting you and decide what form of therapy is most likely to help.

You may want treatment for clear PTSD symptoms, such as nightmares, flashbacks and avoidance. Alternatively, you may want a safe and informed space to process a painful experience, understand your reactions and decide how you want to move forward.

How can birth trauma therapy help?

Therapy begins with an assessment and a shared psychological formulation. This means making sense of what happened, what the experience came to mean to you and what may now be keeping the distress going.

For example, you may have been left with beliefs such as:

• “I am not safe.”

• “My baby is not safe.”

• “I failed.”

• “I should have done something differently.”

• “My body let me down.”

• “I cannot trust medical professionals.”

• “Something terrible will happen again.”

• “I am not a good mother.”

These conclusions can feel completely convincing after trauma, even when the danger has passed.

Treatment can help the memory become an experience that happened in the past, rather than something your mind and body continue to experience as an immediate threat.

Depending on your needs, therapy may include:

• understanding common responses to trauma

• reducing flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive memories

• processing the most distressing moments

• addressing guilt, shame, anger and self-blame

• developing ways to manage anxiety and strong emotions

• rebuilding trust in yourself and your body

• reducing avoidance of hospitals, appointments or conversations about birth

• improving sleep and day-to-day functioning

• strengthening your confidence as a mother

• reconnecting with relationships and activities that matter to you

• preparing psychologically for another pregnancy or birth.

Trauma-focused CBT for birth trauma

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy, or trauma-focused CBT, helps you understand how the experience has affected your thoughts, emotions, body and behaviour.

It can be particularly helpful when you want to talk through what happened, understand why certain moments remain so painful and explore the conclusions you have drawn about yourself, your baby, other people or the future.

We may examine memories that have become “stuck”, work with guilt or self-blame, update trauma-related meanings and gradually reduce avoidance.

This is not simply a matter of trying to think more positively. We carefully consider what happened and help your mind recognise important differences between then and now.

EMDR for birth trauma

Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, or EMDR, is another evidence-based treatment for traumatic memories and PTSD.

During EMDR, you briefly bring aspects of the memory to mind while using bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements or alternating tapping. This supports the brain’s natural information-processing system so that the memory can become less vivid, distressing and intrusive.

EMDR may be particularly suitable when:

• the memories feel vivid or easily triggered

• you experience flashbacks, nightmares or strong physical reactions

• you feel overwhelmed by the idea of describing everything in detail

• you understand logically that the event is over, but your body still reacts as though you are in danger

• you want a treatment that focuses directly on processing the traumatic memory.

You remain awake, aware and in control throughout. You do not have to describe every detail aloud, and you do not need to relive every moment of the birth from beginning to end.

I will remain alongside you throughout the process, helping you feel sufficiently safe and supported and adapting the work to your individual needs.

Which therapy is right for me?

Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR are both established treatments for PTSD. One is not automatically better than the other.

The choice may depend on:

• the difficulties you are experiencing

• how you prefer to work

• whether there are several connected experiences to explore

• how easily you can talk about what happened

• whether particular memories or physical sensations are especially prominent

• your previous experience of therapy

• whether you are currently pregnant or planning another pregnancy.

Some people prefer an adapted CBT approach with more discussion and reflection. Others find EMDR particularly helpful because it does not require them to describe the experience repeatedly or in extensive detail.

We can discuss the options during your assessment and agree a treatment plan together. Where appropriate, elements of both approaches may inform the therapy.

Moving forward after birth trauma

Recovery does not mean deciding that what happened was acceptable or forgetting the experience.

It means that the memory no longer controls your present life.

As therapy progresses, you may find that you can:

• remember the experience without feeling as though it is happening again

• tell your birth story without becoming overwhelmed

• sleep without repeated nightmares

• attend medical appointments with less fear

• hear other people’s birth stories without being triggered

• feel less anger, guilt or shame

• recognise that you did the best you could in an extremely difficult situation

• feel safer and more connected to your body

• develop greater confidence in yourself as a mother

• reconnect with your baby, partner or family

• think about the future without automatically expecting another catastrophe.

Some people eventually find that they can tell their story not only with sadness, but also with recognition of their courage, persistence and survival.

Preparing for another pregnancy or birth

A previous traumatic experience can make the possibility of another pregnancy feel frightening or impossible.

Therapy will never pressure you towards a particular decision. You may decide that you do not want another pregnancy, that you are not ready to decide or that you would like support to prepare for one.

Where relevant, we can explore:

• what happened previously and what could be different now

• your specific fears and predicted risks

• triggers connected with pregnancy, examinations or maternity care

• strategies for managing anxiety and uncertainty

• communicating your needs to healthcare professionals

• questions you may want to discuss with your maternity team

• sources of support during pregnancy and after birth

• a psychological coping plan for appointments, labour and the postnatal period.

Is it too late to seek therapy?

No. It does not matter whether your baby was born recently or many years ago.

Traumatic memories do not always fade simply because time has passed. They may become especially noticeable during another pregnancy, when somebody close to you gives birth, when your child reaches a particular age or when you need further medical care.

Therapy can still help, even when the experience happened a long time ago.

My experience of working with birth trauma

I am an experienced cognitive behavioural psychotherapist and EMDR therapist specialising in perinatal mental health and trauma.

I led a two-year NHS maternal mental health service pilot supporting women experiencing severe fear of childbirth and PTSD following traumatic birth. During this work, I provided evidence-based psychological therapy and worked closely with maternity professionals and other specialist services.

The learning from this pilot directly informed the development of the local West Yorkshire maternal mental health service.

I continue to work within a specialist perinatal mental health team in Leeds. This means that pregnancy-related anxiety, birth trauma, PTSD, reproductive trauma and adjustment following difficult perinatal experiences form a substantial part of my everyday clinical work.

I bring this specialist understanding to private therapy while tailoring treatment to your individual experience, needs and goals.

Birth trauma therapy in Leeds and online

I offer appointments:

• face to face in Leeds

• online across the UK

• in English or Polish.

Your first 50-minute appointment will be an assessment and treatment-planning session. We will discuss what has brought you to therapy, what you would like help with and whether trauma-focused CBT, EMDR or another approach is most appropriate.

Further sessions are arranged if we both agree that I am the right therapist for you. Sessions usually take place weekly or fortnightly.

You do not need to have all the right words or be ready to tell the entire story at the first appointment. We can begin at a pace that feels manageable.

You may be unsure whether your experience “counts” as trauma or whether therapy is appropriate for you. You are welcome to send a brief enquiry describing what you would like help with.

I aim to reply within one working day to confirm my availability and whether the service appears suitable for your needs.

Free birth trauma booklet

Download my free booklet, Birth trauma: understanding, healing and moving forward.

It offers clear, compassionate information about what birth trauma can look like, common trauma responses, grounding strategies, self-blame, treatment options and preparing for the future.

You can read it in your own time and use as much or as little of it as feels helpful.

[Download the free birth trauma booklet]

This booklet is for information and reflection. It is not a substitute for individual psychological therapy or urgent mental health support.