Trauma prevention and treatment in light of Covid-19

Birth trauma could skyrocket

A Make Birth Better study from 2019 shows 30% of new mums are not being given the support they need to cope after a traumatic birth experience. A pretty bad status quo. And then we were hit by a pandemic in March 2020. With all the Covid-19 restrictions put into place and the uncertainty amongst parents(-to-be) about the care being offered, our concern became that trauma would skyrocket in the light of coronavirus. So we launched #thinktraumanow: to urge policy makers, more than ever, to think about trauma prevention and treatment.

From the 2019 study, we were able to draw some other strong conclusions – namely that professionals, partners and children are deeply affected by birth trauma too. Many midwifery and obstetric staff are affected by vicarious trauma because of the events they have seen, the conditions they are working in and a lack of emotional support. But again, this was all pre-Covid-19.

So, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we stated that it’s essential to talk specifically about how to tackle the traumatic events unfolding because of it.

30%

of women are not given the support they need to cope with birth trauma

73%

of women had never been asked about their birth experience

73%

of professionals had never had any specific training on birth trauma

13%

of women who had psychological help felt it resolved their birth trauma

What we asked for

Our requests and recommendations

Make Birth Better called out to parents(to-be), frontline workers and everyone else who cares passionately about changing the system around birth to join their mission. To take a stand, and urge policy makers to think about trauma prevention and treatment, more than ever.

We asked:

1. For people to write to their MP and ask how they prioritise trauma prevention and treatment

2. To share our campaign on social media with an Instagram tile we created

3. To share and complete a survey about the impact of the pandemic. This study has now been published, you can read the parents report here and the professionals report here.

“ In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to talk specifically about how to tackle the traumatic events unfolding right now. There will be a new wave of trauma in the months ahead and we must be ready for it.”

— Make Birth Better Report 2020

Part of #thinktraumanow were recommendations for NHS leaders and policy makers.

Our recommendations

1. There should be focus on prevention as much as possible. How we did this?

On our social media channels, we highlighted birth stories where women felt ‘held’, supported and empowered, and examples of maternity staff and services providing person-centred, collaborative care despite unusual circumstances.
On our website we listed resources for parents and professionals encouraging a sense of support, safety and solidarity.

2. Recognition of symptoms should be timely and effective immediately. We said we expected for the peak in trauma-related symptoms to come in the months, and years, following the pandemic. We urged there should be monitoring and support in the short-term for both parents and professionals.

3. There should be access to specialist, evidence-based, trauma-focused care for all which includes both parents and birth professionals in the long-term.

Download the full report here - published April 2020.

Our calls to action

Three clear messages

The Make Birth Better team visiting the Westminster

We called National and local NHS leaders to:

1. Address trauma prevention for maternity staff and parents.

2. Think long-term about trauma treatment for maternity staff and parents in the future.

3. Act on the requests from Birthrights and The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) for maternity services to be ringfenced and for all women to be offered a safe and positive childbirth experience and ensure that new NHS England clinical guidance is followed

We received replies from a number of MP’s. Overall their responses were non-commital, overused jargon and statistics, and didn’t really answer the question.

“The NHS Long Term Plan includes new measures for maternity to improve safety, quality and continuity of care.”

— Matt Hancock Health Minister replied when asked a question about #thinktraumanow

Dominic Raab MP and others sent similarly weak replies. However we are still pushing for change.