Birth trauma affects mothers, fathers and children. The impact of a negative or traumatic birth experience can last for years and even a lifetime. Evidence suggests up to 20% of women describe some aspect of their birth as negative or even traumatic. However, others will go on to experience symptoms of intrusion, avoidance or hyper-arousal. Meta-analyses show post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects 4% of women after birth and up to 18% of women in high risk groups. Rectification of this situation is essential. In 2016, 5.11 million babies were born in Europe, indicating that up to 1.5 million women may have had sub-optimal birth experiences and over 200,000 may have developed PTSD as a result. Developmental research has firmly established that the quality of infant-parent relationships is a critical factor in early and later childhood development, consequently, a family-centred approach to any investigation of birth-related trauma is critical, as trauma can be transmitted within the family system. Given the enormous economic burden it places on women, health systems, and particularly children, relatively small improvements in services to prevent, detect and treat this problem can benefit society significantly.  weiterlesen