Support for professionals
If you’re a professional and you want to know what you can do to prevent birth trauma and vicarious trauma in your practice or work setting, please go to our training hub.
“She was left alone when so vulnerable. She shouldn’t have been. I felt powerless.”
- Cheryl, midwifeLots of maternity professionals can relate to Cheryl. Dealing with difficult births or complicated pregnancies can be traumatising. It can lead to what’s referred to as vicarious or secondary trauma. According to research, a third of midwives experience symptoms of PTSD. At Make Birth Better, we feel there’s another side that can’t be separated away from traumatising births. A system that’s overstretched. With exhausted and overworked staff. A study shows 66% of midwives considered leaving the profession in the last 6 months. When you’re experiencing PTSD, or symptoms of it, or when you’re emotionally exhausted, you will inevitably struggle to provide compassionate and sensitive care for the women and birthing people you look after. That’s not why you chose this profession. It’s time for change. We’re here for you.
-
It’s very normal that professionals are impacted by trauma. Understand the causes and the symptoms of vicarious trauma.
Learn More here
-
We hear lots from maternity staff about feeling ashamed to reach out for help. Don’t be.
Read More
-
How can you appropriately support your team and work to prevent the impact of trauma on the people in your team?
Learn more
-
Our Find Support pages for parents and our free ‘I need help’ download are vital resources to share with the birthing women, people and families you’re looking after.
The MindYourself App
Support at work, in the palm of your hand. The MindYourself app’s mission is to prevent the development of mental health difficulties in health and social care professionals, by offering companies and individuals sustainable, evidence-based solutions to optimise their mental health and wellbeing.
It contains a combination of directly relatable strategies that can be used when time is short, providing the skills to develop daily habits to optimise the mental health of the user and their colleagues in the longer term. Each person is offered information and strategies based on the difficulties they face in the moment, and the time that they have available.
This app has been developed by Dr Jan Smith, Make Birth Better’s Clinical Lead. Find out more about the MindYourself app here.