Rapidly Heal Your Childbirth Trauma

“Between 25 and 34 per cent of women report that their births were traumatic. A birth is said to be traumatic when the individual (mother, father, or other witness) believes the mother’s or her baby’s life was in danger, or that a serious threat to the mother’s or her baby’s physical or emotional integrity existed.”

This definition comes from PATTCh, an organisation for the Prevention and Treatment of Traumatic Childbirth. I recommend this site for useful information and resources.

Following a traumatic birth, some mothers develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Lesser degrees of this condition is sometimes called Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS). The symptoms can include intrusive memories, anxiety and fear, startle responses, poor sleep, irritability, emotional numbing, and physical symptoms such as sweating, trouble breathing, nausea, or a pounding heart when triggered by reminders.

Mindful of how vulnerable and traumatised you might be, I am ready to offer kindness, compassion, understanding, and a gentle process of healing.

I offer comprehensive care for mothers with traumatic childbirth

I am a recently retired anesthesiologist with extensive experience in maternity care. I am very familiar with the kind of events that can be frightening, overwhelming and traumatic. Moreover, I have been an international healthcare leader promoting compassionate healthcare and supporting both injured patients and clinicians when things go wrong. I have been a leader in processes such as open disclosure and apology after medical error, helping all parties heal after traumatic events.  The New Zealand Medical Association gave me their highest prize, the 2016 Chair’s Award, in recognition of this work.

Now I work full time as a trauma therapist, helping many mothers rapidly heal their trauma, using the latest advances in neuroscience and trauma.

In my childbirth trauma care I offer:

• Deep empathy, compassion and understanding
• Evidence-based, rapid treatment
• A medical assessment of your childbirth care (but telling your story of trauma is NOT necessary for treatment)
• A tailored program of treatment
• Advice on the rights and wrongs of your birthing care. When the trauma is relieved, you will find it easy to share the details of what happened, without getting emotionally triggered.

I can guarantee your positive outcomes, based on the specific research I have been doing in the treatment of childbirth trauma. The one exception is those mothers that have complex or chronic trauma, existing before the events of childbirth. Even if the childbirth trauma is resolved, symptoms of PTSD may persist unless you have longer-term therapy.

My research predicts your outcome, depending on the complexity and severity of your trauma:

1. If you are otherwise healthy and resilient, and had a single childbirth trauma, your symptoms are likely to be dramatically improved or cured in one session of therapy.
2. If you had serious pregnancy complications in hospital, or a baby that required neonatal intensive care, in addition to the trauma of the birth, you are likely to require one additional follow-up session of therapy to clear the trauma of these other events.
3. If you have two separate birth traumas from two different pregnancies, or a stillbirth in addition to the traumatic live birth, you are likely to require additional follow-up sessions of therapy to clear all the traumas.
4. If you have severe childbirth trauma, in the context of pre-existing PTSD, then we can can substantially reduce the burden of symptoms with each session. The treatment of all your trauma is likely to involve many sessions of therapy and I have seen many cases of complex PTSD cured over time.

Most clients will only need one session to resolve their childbirth trauma

Of the mothers I have treated (excluding those with pre-existing PTSD), 75% have been healed of their trauma after one session, 25% have needed two sessions.

I am using a breakthrough therapy, called Havening Techniques®, which can quickly and easily erase the traumatic memory that is causing your symptoms. This therapy is based on the latest neuroscience. The developer of Havening, Ronald Ruden MD, has discovered a mechanism in the brain that can rapidly delete the nerve connections that store emotional trauma. The result is astonishing. After the brief therapy, you will be able to recall the objective facts of your childbirth but the trauma will be gone: no fear, no stress response, no body symptoms.

The cost of sessions (either in-person, or via Zoom video connection) is $200 including GST.

To create an appointment you must first Register as a client, then use Online Booking to secure your session. Please follow the instructions on my Appointments page here.

If you wish to see a report of the research I have conducted in the treatment of childbirth trauma, please see this article, which is written for the lay person.

Further information

My Neuroscience of Healing Clinic is at 6 Norrie Avenue, Raglan. Please use our Stewart Street driveway and entrance for the clinic, in the downstairs part of the building. You can park right outside the clinic. Please ensure that you watch the information video at the bottom of this page before you attend for your session – you get to meet me and find out how Havening works.

You might be skeptical of my claims of a rapid cure?

I was! As a senior clinician, I initially thought the claims of Havening Techniques were ridiculous. After all, we mostly believe that it can take months or years of therapy to treat serious trauma. What partly convinced me was finding out that there is a detailed (and published) scientific theory sitting behind Havening, including precise accounts of the neural pathways and molecular mechanisms. As a Certified Trainer, I teach the science of Havening and it takes about four hours to cover the basics of the science. I teach Havening Techniques to doctors, psychologists, therapists and counsellors.

When I tried Havening for myself, I was completely convinced. I found that my own major traumatic events – that haunted me all my life – were dissolved away in a single session of care.

The story of one of my first clients with severe birth trauma (warning: details may be triggering for you)

Here’s an example case of a client with birth trauma, just to illustrate what is possible. I am sharing this story with her permission (warning: some people might find this story triggering).

This unfortunate woman was scheduled to have an elective Caesarean Section, for the birth of her second child, and she was having panic attacks at the thought of returning to the operating room. Her counsellor referred her urgently, not knowing how to treat such severe symptoms, just a few days before her scheduled surgery.

The mothers’ story was awful. Her first labour progressed very slowly and she needed pain relief. The epidural injection didn’t work properly, so she was left in pain. Eventually, the doctors said that she needed an emergency Caesarean to deliver her baby. The anaesthetist removed the epidural catheter and performed a spinal anaesthetic for the surgery. All seemed to be fine until the surgeon made an incision and the mother felt terrible pain. The mother was then given a general anaesthetic but suffered severe complications. Her baby was safely delivered but the mother ended up needing high-dependency care for several days.

No wonder she was having panic attacks!

I saw her in my clinic just three days before her surgery. After making all the necessary assessment and preparations, she completely erased the trauma of her birth experience in just 20 minutes. My client was astonished to be able to recall the birth events without any fear, anxiety or stress response. The day before her hospital admission, we did a second session of therapy and used a Havening process to imprint a feeling of deep safety, while she visualised all the anticipated events of the next day, through to a completed Caesarean.

She sent me a text message the next afternoon, attaching a lovely photograph of her smiling with her new baby. She reported that she had remained calm throughout the procedure, she felt no pain, and the whole experience went really well.

What do the mothers say, after experiencing my care?

Here are what some of the mothers have said after their treatment session (shared with permission):

“I must admit I was hopeful but skeptical before treatment but now I am just so much better! I have not had a single instance where I thought of events and had an adrenaline surge or negative response. I also managed to go to two paediatrician appointments with my daughter without crying at some point, which is the first time ever. My mum, who is my biggest emotional support, has also commented how different, positive and “more like the old me” I seem. Again – thank you so so much. I am blown away with the results.”

“I cannot begin to describe how much my mental health has improved since seeing you. I used to go to work with debilitating anxiety and wake up with stomach pains every morning. I don’t any longer. I was able to discuss my birth plan and aspirations with my midwife without crying, and talk specifics without being haunted by my first birth. It’s a very liberating feeling.”

“I really feel that the healings have helped me and i am extremely grateful. During the birth of my son 3 years ago, my midwife took photos. I haven’t been able to look at them and the thought of them sent me into an emotional spin. Last night I decided to look at them and spent about 20mins studying them, with no trauma related emotion. I saw completely different things and I actually had happy tears! I was able to see the birth in a completely different light. It was amazing!”

“I have finally been able to tap into the joy of having my son. After 20 years of not being able to think about one of the most precious days of my life, Havening has taken that trauma away, totally. Now I can think of the excitement of his impending arrival and the awe and wonder of him once we brought him home.”

“Pretty amazing! I feel like that was my body releasing so much stuff! But last night I had the best sleep ever! And feel like I’ve had a huge break through. I do know for a fact, that Havening had a huge impact on my mental and emotional well-being. I was smiling from the inside out.”

“I was amazed however that only 15 minutes after our session I could speak with my husband about our session, recalling the trauma with no tears at all. He too was really surprised. That is a huge success! I met new people on the weekend who also had a baby, they asked me about our labour and I was able to recall the events with no negative emotions which is crazy to me!”

“I have been doing well since our last session. I was able to talk to my best friend about the events around my sons birth very matter of fact and without feeling anxious or feeling pain. I also can feel more happy for those who are pregnant instead of a feeling of dread for them. It has made a big difference to my life.”

“I am feeling so much better! I can think about Lucas’s birth, like what happened in the room during the delivery and not get a tight stomach or feel really stressed. I still have a minor tense feeling but that is such a big improvement. I can talk about it without crying or getting emotional which is awesome too.”