HEALTH

Childbirth trauma can leave a woman ‘shocked’

YOU might think that the birth of a child is something wonderful. But for many women, it’s a traumatic event with serious consequences.
Experts are calling on women to talk openly about how tough the experience is.
Giving birth is an overwhelming event for a woman, intensely stressful, painful and emotional.
But once the little bundle of joy has arrived, all is well – except when it isn’t, although the baby may be perfectly healthy. For many women, childbirth is a trauma they can’t shake off.
It’s normal that new mothers have trouble readjusting, says Dr Christian Albring, president of the Munich-based Professional Association of Gynaecologists.
“After the birth, the body’s production of oestrogen drops abruptly, causing many women to experience temporary – and sometimes very deep – depression, which is intensified by the pain, loss of blood and lack of sleep, ” he notes.
If this phase doesn’t pass after several days or the mother is unable to develop contact with the baby, then she has more than the normal “baby blues.”
It could be postnatal depression or, what’s worse, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to childbirth trauma, known in short as birth trauma.

According to Dr Wolfgang Luetje, president of the German Society for Psychosomatic Gynaecology and Obstetrics, the classic signs of birth trauma are hyperexcitability and extremely vivid flashbacks of the birth.
Possible causes of birth trauma are as diverse as the course of birth itself.
“There are natural procedures potentially associated with increased instances of trauma, ” remarks Dr Luetje. “But you can’t say that a particular intervention or particular occurrence tends to be traumatising.”
Birth trauma is often caused by a feeling of not being in control.
Dr Luetje says the midwifery and obstetric staff therefore have an obligation: What’s important isn’t so much what they do, but that they explain to the expectant mother what they plan to do and why, and give her the right to object. This presupposes, of course, that there’s sufficient time for so much solicitude.
“It’s often traumatising when things get hectic, ” says Ulrike Geppert-Orthofer, president of the German Midwifery Association.
Emergencies in particular can be traumatising. And so can being alone a lot during the course of the birth.
“Alone” doesn’t mean without her partner or other person of trust at her side, but without any qualified staff such as the midwife. In some hospitals this happens frequently.

“ There are natural procedures potentially associated with increased instances of trauma.”

Women should seek professional help if they continue to feel depressed after the birth, are unable to talk about the birth or take pride in it.
They shouldn’t be ashamed of this, Geppert-Orthofer says, because birth trauma can adversely affect breastfeeding, the mother’s bond with the baby and her partner, and her desire to have more children.
She concedes it’s not easy to accept help, much less ask for it.
“Women are often prone to simply function day to day,” Geppert-Orthofer says, adding that the people around them aren’t always understanding. “Many think, ‘she’s got everything, so why isn’t she happy?’”
When the midwife makes house calls, the new mother should take the opportunity to talk about the birth and her feelings, Geppert-Orthofer advises. Her gynaecologist is also a good person to talk to, Dr Albring says, and may know support or therapy networks nearby. – dpa

Loneliness: 5 things you may not know

NEARLY everyone feels lonely at some point. The good news is, for many of us, it’s a temporary condition, perhaps one caused by a life change: moving to a new location, for instance, or starting a new job.
But for other people, loneliness is a way of life, one that may stem not from the number of people around them but from a lack of connection with others. And, research has showed, chronic loneliness can have adverse consequences for your health.
Scientists are still examining the link between mental and physical health and how loneliness affects our bodies. But you may not know about some of their findings over the years.
It may affect your brain in a way similar to physical pain
As CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta writes in a column for O Magazine regarding a 2003 study:
“A remarkable study led by Naomi Eisenberger, an associate professor of social psychology at UCLA, found that being excluded — which can push you to the social perimeter and, as a result, cause feelings of loneliness — triggered activity in some of the same regions of the brain that register physical pain.
“From an evolutionary perspective, this makes sense; our prehistoric ancestors relied on social groups not just for companionship, but for survival.
“Staying close to the tribe brought access to shelter, food, and protection. Separation from the group, on the other hand, meant danger.
“Today when we feel left out, our bodies may sense a threat to survival, and some of the same pain signals that would engage if we were in real physical danger are flipped on. In the chronically lonely, levels of the stress hormone cortisol shoot up higher in the morning than in more socially connected people and never fully subside at night.”
People who feel lonely tend to experience more nighttime sleep disruptions than those who don’t, a small 2011 study found.
Researchers found that the link between sleep disruptions and loneliness persisted even after marital status and family size were taken into account, suggesting that loneliness depends on how people perceive their social situation rather than the situation itself.
-CNN