|
Childbirth is supposed to be one of life’s most
natural and normal events. But when things go wrong it can be terrifying
and traumatic. So much so that new research from Griffith University in
Queensland is showing a significant percentage of women could be
clinically defined as having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder brought on
by the birth. Shelly Horton has more.
GEORGE NEGUS: As folklore has it, childbirth is a natural and normal
thing, but when it goes wrong, it can be anything but natural and
normal.
In fact, it can be terrifying and
traumatic.
Lately, as Shelly Horton tells us, some new Australian
mums are being diagnosed with so-called post-traumatic stress disorder
brought on, apparently, by childbirth.
SHELLY HORTON: Three years
ago, Kathy Cornack gave birth to beautiful Nicola.
But because
Nicola's head wasn't in the ideal position, the birth was anything but
beautiful.
KATHY CORNACK: Then they put up an IV
drip.
They did some sort of manipulation which was really
painful.
They put an epidural in and you've got to keep still
because if they miss you could be paralysed.
You're there and you
go --
(Howls with pain) ..trying to keep still while they put
this needle in.
I became this piece of meat on a bed they were
trying to get a baby out of.
I'm lying on my back, looking up and
it's like scenes from TV shows -- you just see all the lights and it's
kind of surreal.
And it wasn't at all like I imagined my daughter
would be born.
I thought it would be this beautiful, you know,
sort of family, homely thing.
And she was just born in this cold,
grey room surrounded by strangers.
SHELLY HORTON: And
unfortunately, Kathy's story is not uncommon.
Experiences like
hers prompted research by the Griffith University School of
Nursing.
PROF DEBRA CREEDY, PSYCHOLOGIST, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF NURSING: We surveyed 600 women prior to delivery, four weeks
after delivery and three months after delivery.
And we found that
around 33 per cent of women found that childbirth was
stressful.
And in 6 per cent of those cases, those women met the
full diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress
disorder.
SHELLY HORTON: This is quite distinct from postnatal
depression.
To fit the definition of PTSD, the event has to be
traumatic.
For example, the mother has to fear for her life or
the life of her child.
PROF DEBRA CREEDY: They have to experience
a number of re-experiencing type symptoms -- where women describe
standing at the sink doing the dishes, and suddenly a thought of the
birth will come flooding back into mind.
So there's that sense of
re-experiencing.
There's also symptoms related to
avoidance.
So women describe things like driving past the
hospital and wanting to move away from that area as soon as possible or
wanting to leave the hospital as soon as possible after
delivery.
SHELLY HORTON: And these symptoms have to last for more
than a month.
PROF DEBRA CREEDY: There has certainly been
documented case studies of women who still experience trauma symptoms
nine years after the birth.
KATHY CORNACK: It was probably about
15 months before I realised that there was something wrong with me
'cause I'd normally been pretty upbeat and pretty positive and I found I
was just crying all the time -- still, even that long
after.
Whenever I saw a show about babies or birth or something,
I would lose it.
And any little bit of stress would send me over
the edge.
SHELLY HORTON: The mothers in the study suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder say the triggers could be anything from a
long painful labour, forceps delivery, multiple examinations, and
especially emergency caesarean.
JENNY GAMBLE, MIDWIFE, GRIFFITH
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING: One woman talked about 12 vaginal
examinations in four hours -- while she is in labour.
And so
those sorts of things really detract from the experience.
SHELLY
HORTON: The research shows by failing to recognise a traumatic turn of
events during childbirth, maternity staff are missing an opportunity to
treat mental distress before it turns into post-traumatic stress
disorder.
PROF DEBRA CREEDY: In the survey that I did only 14 per
cent of women said that any staff member asked them about the birth
which indicates a very low level of focus on the emotional aspects of
care.
SHELLY HORTON: Do you think there's a serious problem that
women have a romantic view of what childbirth will be?
JENNY
GAMBLE: No.
I don't think the problem lies with the women at
all.
I think you should be able to come in off the street in
labour and get sensitive and appropriate care.
KATHY CORNACK: I
found that they were very unsympathetic.
They were
good.
They sort of cared for the basic health -- basic physical
health -- but no-one was very kind of understanding of what might have
been wrong with me.
SHELLY HORTON: The researchers agree, and
they hope to encourage maternity staff towards a more holistic
approach.
JENNY GAMBLE: We have 24 per cent caesarean section
rates.
Let's face it.
Things aren't going all along
swimmingly.
SHELLY HORTON: Maternity staff defend themselves
saying they don't have time to counsel women, especially if there's an
emergency during the birth.
JENNY GAMBLE: There's nothing to stop
one midwife speaking quietly, calmly, clearly to the woman.
So
even in the midst of a rush to get a baby delivered quickly in a dire
emergency -- that the woman still has some sort of emotional support to
get her through that.
SHELLY HORTON: Kathy felt being diagnosed
with PTSD allowed her to move on.
KATHY CORNACK: I woke up one
morning and looked at my little girl and went "Wow!
"You know,
you're pretty neat."
It wasn't like I'd wanted to do her in or
those sorts of things that you read about, but I hadn't actually bonded
with her.
I'd been quite mechanistic about it and liked her
alright but I think it took until about 15 months before I actually
started to love her.
And I think that that's only now that I
really, really kind of love her.
GEORGE NEGUS: Some particularly
brutal honesty there.
And we should thank Kathy for agreeing to
be filmed.
|
