How Sharing Your Birth Story Can Help You Heal
New mother
Childbirth is a profound physiological and psychological event. While it’s often romanticised in culture, the reality is far more complex. For many women, birth leaves behind not just stretch marks and scars—but psychological imprints that quietly shape their postpartum experience.
According to the Birth Trauma Association UK, around 1 in 3 women describe their birth as traumatic. But trauma doesn’t only mean medical emergencies. It can stem from feeling unheard, powerless, dismissed, or rushed. These emotional injuries often go unacknowledged in a system that prioritises physical outcomes over emotional wellbeing.
And yet, the brain and body remember.
Why Storytelling Matters for Healing
When we experience trauma—especially in birth, when oxytocin (the love hormone) collides with adrenaline (the survival hormone)—our brain’s memory-processing systems can become disrupted. Memories become fragmented. This is why many women say, “It’s all a blur” or “I can’t stop thinking about what went wrong.”
Narrating your birth story activates a neurological process called coherent narrative formation. By telling your story—out loud, in sequence, with someone trained to hold it—you help your brain file the experience, reducing emotional reactivity over time. It’s not about fixing what happened; it’s about integrating it.
Psychologically, this process fosters what trauma therapists call ‘meaning-making’—a crucial part of post-traumatic growth. Emotionally, it creates space for grief, validation, and the reclamation of identity in the wake of birth.
Why So Many Women Suffer in Silence
In the UK, the postpartum check often lasts 6–8 minutes—and rarely includes a deep dive into the mother’s emotional landscape. Partners return to work, visitors fade, and society shifts the spotlight to the baby. The mother is often left holding both her newborn and her unresolved story.
Left unspoken, these stories can contribute to postnatal depression, anxiety, and feelings of disconnection—from oneself, the baby, or even the body.
But Your Story Has Power
Telling your birth story isn’t indulgent. It’s therapeutic. It’s a way of saying, “This happened. It mattered. And so do I.”
To honour Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re offering free birth debriefs throughout May—a space to unpack, process, and begin healing.
Free Birth Debrief Sessions with Georgia – This May Only
If your birth left you confused, disappointed, or traumatised, we’re here to help you unpack it safely.
The Bubba & Me Club is offering FREE Birth Debrief Sessions with Georgia throughout May.
💬 60-minute private sessions
📍 Available online or in-person at our Tunbridge Wells clinic
🎟 Use promo code DEBRIEF when booking
You’ll be met with compassion, not judgement. Let’s give your birth story the space it deserves.
Your body matters. Your voice matters. Let’s make sure you feel whole again.
👉 Book your FREE session now
