Should you Bring up Past Trauma as a Topic?

On the Resilient Birth podcast, Justine and Sarah explore the impact of trauma in the perinatal period. Through an inspirational quote that drives the weekly content, Justine and Sarah explore various trauma areas with vulnerability and compassion that support birthing people and birth professionals. Each week, listeners leave with takeaways to utilize in their lives and/or clients. Justine and Sarah hold the stories they share with honor and respect with the hope to impart knowledge, increase understanding, and bear witness to this challenging topic. Sarah is a licensed mental health counselor, educator, and mom of three. She walks with a story of trauma from before and as a result of her perinatal experience. Justine supports survivors of trauma through perinatal coaching and childbirth education. As well as being a mother of three, she holds a Ph.D. on representations of consent and sexual violence. In this episode wide ranging episode we begin with a conversation about how perinatal professionals should raise the topic of previous trauma with their clients and patients. We talk about the importance of giving control to our clients when raising the topic of trauma and helping them to find their own resources within themselves. The article from with Justine shares her quote is: Cull J, Thomson G, Downe S, Fine M, Topalidou A (2023) Views from women and maternity care professionals on routine discussion of previous trauma in the perinatal period: A qualitative evidence synthesis. PLOS ONE 18(5): e0284119. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284119