Healing birth trauma starts with feeling supported

This week (13 to 19 July) is Birth Trauma Awareness Week.

While these events are always good reminders of important topics, one day or week of awareness is only just the beginning, as we need to keep these conversations alive all year round.

One of my macro photographs, which hopefully bring you joy

Especially in light of recent reviews at NHS trusts like Shrewsbury and Telford, and Nottingham University Hospitals.

It also reminds me of the report from the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation (NMNI), which highlighted an urgent need to improve care for mothers and babies in England.

Yes, we hear it on the news, but it's not 'just' statistics or general findings. I remember a social media post by a mum with lived experience who had an extremely traumatic birth.

I won’t go into the details here and rather concentrate on how to make life better for this mum and many, many others out there who went through something similar and might still be recovering from their own difficult experience.

This mum faced a severe medical emergency, feared she might not survive and then lived with symptoms of PTSD for years.

She shared that she could barely remember the first year of her baby’s life because of the trauma and in her search for support she spent over £5,000 on private therapy.

Despite clearly expressing that she no longer wanted to be alive, she was offered a webinar series on 'low mood'.

My heart goes out to this mum and to every parent who has felt unseen, misunderstood or left without the support they desperately needed after birth trauma.

"My body felt like a war zone, now [after TRE] it's more like a ceasefire." Tim

And the same applies to birthing partners, because there are many who have developed Secondary Trauma - trauma that results from witnessing the traumatic experience of another person.

Birth trauma is far more common than many realise.

Even when a baby is physically healthy and the mother is medically discharged, the emotional and physiological impacts can remain.

And too often, what happens in the body is misunderstood or shrugged off.

Parents are told they’re 'fine' and everything is 'normal', even when their own instinct suggest it's not.

This is why I so deeply wish our healthcare system would more fully acknowledge the value of complementary, body-based modalities.

Not necessarily as replacements for medical or psychological care, but as vital companions.

Simply because the body holds on to what the mind can’t process, which many of us are much more aware of since Bessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score became an international bestseller. And we also know that stress and survival responses live in our muscles and tissues.

And this is exactly where TRE (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises) comes in.

TRE was created by David Berceli, PhD, who developed the method while working in war zones and communities exposed to big T trauma.

Later, when he returned to the US, he supported many war veterans who lived with PTSD.

David's work is based on the understanding that our bodies have a natural mechanism that helps release tension, stress and stored survival energy.

And this natural mechanism is something all mammals possess; also called neurogenic tremoring.

You've probably seen dogs shaking after a stressful incident, right?

"I was thinking of my dog,

he shakes it off … and then feels alright - and now I do the same.”

Anne

That's TRE in a nutshell.

The concept of TRE is simple, but the impact can be life-changing:

• When the body feels stressed, overwhelmed or unsafe, it contracts and protects

• When we give it a safe opportunity to unwind those contractions, the nervous system gradually rebalances

• As the body softens, emotional, cognitive and relational shifts often follow

  
  

As always, this does not mean TRE is a replacement for therapy, medication or professional mental-health support.

"I had tried counselling, but I often struggled to put my experiences into words.

TRE allowed me to release without having to revisit old stories."

Martha

Rather, TRE adds something essential that talking alone cannot access:

An embodied pathway to release tension safely and in a very innate and natural way.

I’ve seen this countless times in my work as a TRE Provider.

Clients report that their symptoms ease, often the first thing they notice is that their sleep improves and generally that the world feels a little less overwhelming.

And this is not because they forcefully tried even harder, no, on the contrary, it happened because their nervous system was given space to reset.

TRE is not about forcing anything, it's not about reliving trauma and it's not about 'fixing' yourself.

On the contrary – in TRE we invite the body to do what it is designed to do and what we far too often suppress.

This is why I’m passionate about offering TRE to mothers, birthing partners, well, to be honest, to everybody who wants to feel better and in control of their health and well-being.

Many mums don't have the experience they hoped for and nobody should have to navigate that alone or feel that their distress is being minimised.

Somatic approaches acknowledge that what happens to us emotionally also happens to us physically – and the other way round – and this is incredibly important.

Let's acknowledge the mind-body connection.

Stress, shock, fear, exhaustion … they don’t just disappear when the hugely stressful, if not traumatic, incident is over.

The body may keep bracing long after the mind believes it 'should' be fine.

Many of my clients want to address:

• Chronic aches and pains

• Tension and tightness in the body

• Jaw tension and teeth grinding

• A sense of being constantly on high alert

• Emotional overwhelm or anxiety

• Irritability or anger outbursts

• Difficulty relaxing or sleeping

• A lack of connection, e.g. with themselves, their body, their partner, their baby ...

These are physiological patterns that the body adopts in order to cope.

TRE offers a way towards unwinding those patterns from the inside out and in the most innate and natural way.

Although TRE may look simple from the outside – 'oh, it's just a wee shake' – there's a lot going on inside. You can watch David Berceli's explanation here.

As a certified TRE Provider, my role is to:

• Provide safe and trauma-informed guidance

• Ensure your TRE experience is grounded and well-paced

• Offer down-regulation strategies

• Support you to build trust in your body

• Guide and teach you to practise on your own and in a safe and confident way

Once learned, TRE becomes your tool to use and many TRE lovers describe it as deeply empowering.

With maternity investigations gaining attention, more parents are speaking out about their experiences, which is important.

What I always miss when reading these reports is that they hardly ever offer a solution for others.

We also know that the healthcare system is overstretched and that many people feel lost, on their own and lingering on long waiting lists.

I'd love everybody to know that there are alternatives out there that they can try while waiting for an appointment.

With TRE I can offer an integrated, holistic approach for body and mind and you'll gain a tool that you can use long after our sessions. Which is empowering, because healing is a process, it doesn’t happen in a few appointments, a webinar or a quick check-up.

So, if your birth experience was not what you hoped for – or if you’re supporting someone who is struggling – I can only invite you to explore TRE.

Having said that, TRE is not exclusively for these situations.

It is a powerful and valuable tool to support a wide range of experiences – from grief, fear, loss, chronic or unexplained aches and pains, anxiety, overwhelm or 'simply' the constant stress of day-to-day life.

You might find TRE offers exactly the kind of support your body has been waiting for.

I always say in TRE we experience the body in a way we've most likely never experienced before.

"Tremoring surprises me every time.

But afterwards, I am left so light and relaxed.

I am grateful."

Rox

Please feel free to share my insights with anyone who might be navigating life after challenging circumstances.

So many people are not aware that TRE could be a solution or at least part of the solution and I'd like them to at least know that TRE exists.

I’m here if you’d like to talk, ask questions or simply explore whether TRE might be right for you.

PS

This might be a good opportunity to reassure you that my fact-finding chats are certainly not sales calls. I recently beta-tested an AI sales tool and the feedback I got was reassuring.

My approach is warm, informative, credible and respectful, not at all salesy or pushy.

I kind of knew that from potential clients' feedback, but it's great to get validation, both from my 'coach' as well as from Marilyn, the real person behind this tool.

If and when you book a fact-finding chat with me, it will be exactly like that.

And in case you'd like to test your sales skills and get valuable feedback, here's the link to the fun and pretty impressive sales training.