Assessing birth trauma knowledge in GPs & Health Visitors: a cause for worry
With over 200,000 people impacted by birth trauma in the UK each year, Make Birth Better’s #ThinkTraumaNow campaign - and its mission to ensure everyone knows about birth trauma and how to find support - is not only much needed, it is crucial to mental and physical health on a national level and the start we are giving young families. Research findings from the #ThinkTraumaNow campaign on birth trauma knowledge amongst GPs and Health Visitors (HVs), that we are launching today, have us worried.
Make Birth Better launched this #ThinkTraumaNow campaign in 2023. The campaign has two long term campaign outcomes:
For parents to have better knowledge of birth trauma;
For GPs and HVs to enquire about birth trauma at routine checks.
To establish the baseline statistics and to measure the effectiveness of our campaign, we launched three National Birth Trauma Surveys - one for parents, one for GPs and one for HVs. We surveyed 850 parents, 202 GPs and 177 HVs. Today, we launch the findings of our National Birth Trauma Survey: Assessing Knowledge in GPs & HVs.
“Our research reveals a disparity that desperately needs attention.”
A disparity between parents and healthcare professionals
At first sight, the statistics of our three National Birth Trauma Surveys are cause for optimism, as they show a growing awareness of birth trauma and its symptoms on a national level in the UK, for parents as well as GPs and HVs. Yet, a deeper look into the statistics are cause to be worried.
In the first place, our worry comes from parents who shared with us that they are not feeling supported by GPs and HVs, with only 14.88% of respondents saying they were asked about the emotional impact of their birth by GPs, and only 31.52% by their HV. Laura-Rose Thorogood (CEO at Make Birth Better): “We see a growing awareness of birth trauma. But there’s a gap in getting the right information and adequate support from healthcare professionals. Our research reveals a disparity in knowledge and support that desperately needs attention.”
“Overall, GPs and HVs report their training should be more sufficient.”
Birth trauma training and referrals
Delving deeper into the birth trauma support parents are getting from GPs and HVs, and looking into how equipped these professionals feel by their training, their levels of confidence in signposting and knowledge of support services, we find sobering statistics too, mainly with GPs.
Over half of GPs (55.22%) do not feel equipped by their birth trauma training, half do not feel confident in signposting (50%) and nearly half (48%) feel they lack the knowledge of the right support services.
With HVs, we see some more promising statistics, with a majority of HVs (73.87%) feeling equipped by their training, most HVs (89.26%) feeling confident in signposting and most HVs (88.7%) feeling knowledgeable about birth trauma support services. We suspect the difference in statistics between GPs and HVs can be explained by the fact that GPs wear multiple hats, and HVs play a more dedicated role with parents in the postnatal period. “Overall, GPs and HVs report their training should be more sufficient. They are not feeling equipped enough in supporting parents”, says Thorogood.
“Parents impacted by trauma are left feeling unsupported, dismissed or not being taken seriously”
Overstretched services
Our research findings reinforce what we know from our daily work as well: that birth trauma support services are overstretched, with NHS waiting times being very long. GPs and HVs also mention pathways are unclear, they share about referrals going in circles without finding the right solution. Thorogood: “For parents impacted by trauma this can be a big worry as it might mean they are left feeling unsupported, dismissed or not being taken seriously, which is incredibly frustrating at the least, but can also be retraumatising since these emotions are often part of their trauma too.”
Calls to action
In our report, we’ve put together three calls to action we’re recommending to all GPs and HVs, including those who influence policy and practice, as well as Government leaders, NHS policy makers, the Royal College of GPs and the Institute of Health Visiting. “We’re looking at the feasibility and the barriers of these calls to action in some research we’re undertaking with the University of East Anglia, Birmingham University and City St George's”, explains Thorogood. Make Birth Better will use the findings of this research to promote these calls to action too.
Mandatory training on perinatal trauma for all GPs and HVs - ensuring they feel equipped on the basics of birth trauma and its symptoms, and they know where to signpost and send people for specialist referrals where required.
Training on the use of a quick screening tool (the City BiTS scale short form) - as part of mandatory training the use of this tool - developed by Professor Susan Ayres in collaboration with Make Birth Better and others - should be included.
Clear referral pathways on a local level, including clarity on capacity and insight in what support is available to prevent parents being sent around in circles unnecessarily long.
Read more
Read our full report National Birth Trauma Survey: Assessing Knowledge in GPs & HVs here.
Read more about our #ThinkTraumaNow campaign here.
If you’re a GP looking to upskill around birth trauma and improve the support for your patients, please check out our free GP resources page here.
Media Contact
Laura-Rose Thorogood, CEO at Make Birth Better | laura-rose@makebirthbetter.org