How Many Women Experience Birth Trauma?

Birth trauma is a poorly-understood and significantly underdiagnosed condition. Around 3–4% of women who give birth develop post-traumatic stress disorder; many more experience significant distress that does not meet the diagnostic threshold.^[2] The causes include emergency procedures, pain that was inadequately managed, feeling out of control or not listened to, and experiencing the death or serious illness of a baby.

Despite this scale, dedicated support is scarce. Only 22% of NHS maternity trusts have a birth trauma or birth reflections clinic.^[4] Many women who seek help are told to wait for generic IAPT (talking therapies) services, which often have no specialist perinatal training.^[1] The 2024 Birth Trauma Inquiry, commissioned by the All-Party Parliamentary Group, documented systemic failures and called for dedicated funding for birth trauma services in every trust.^[4]