Birth Reflections and Trauma Service

Have you had a baby and are you having trouble feeling at ease about your experience?
Do you have unanswered questions about the birth of your baby?
Was your birth experience distressing for you?
You are not alone. Reactions can include:

Many women can feel like this regardless of the type of birth they have had. These reactions can occur soon after giving birth or several months or years later.

Our friendly team offer non-judgemental guidance and support to help you feel at ease with your experience regardless of the length of time that has passed since the birth of your baby.

How can the Birth Reflections and Trauma Service help?

This confidential service consists of two possible stages that can be offered depending on your circumstances and needs:

1. Birth Reflections:

This is an opportunity to talk about the birth of your baby to one of our team and have your story heard—this is usually completed without your medical notes. If you have specific questions about your care we may need to access your medical notes or refer you to someone who can go through them with you if you didn't have your baby in Powys.

2. The Rewind Technique: 

This is based on current knowledge about how traumatic experiences can be ‘stuck’ in emotional memory. It is a gentle technique to ’re-process’ the memories so they do not cause the same strong feelings.

It starts with a guided relaxation which is often beneficial in itself. Then, if you wish to continue, there is a guided visualisation in which you remember your birth in different ways while you are in the relaxed state. It lasts about an hour and is a non-intrusive, safe and effective.

It usually works within 1-2 sessions. A follow up can be completed face-to-face or by phone.

If I contact the Birth Reflections and Trauma service what should I expect?

A member of the service will call to speak with you about your medical and mental health history and briefly about the birth of your baby. We aim to call you within 2 weeks of receiving your referral. Our team are midwives, health visitors, nursery nurses and local primary mental health counsellors who have all received training in this technique.

Dependent on the outcome of this discussion you will either:

• Be seen by one of us for a birth reflection with or without Rewind technique. We aim to arrange to see you within 2-4 weeks at home or in a Powys Teaching Health Board location. Please allow at least 1 hour for each appointment. It is best if you can be alone and undisturbed to help ensure the process can work effectively.
• Be referred on to other services if the practitioner feels that this would be most appropriate for you.
• Be discharged if you do not wish to proceed further. Some people feel that the initial phone call is sufficient and they do not wish to have any further contact.

What if my partner is traumatised by the birth?

We may be able to offer support for partners – please contact us for more information.

What happens after you’ve met with a member of the Birth Reflections and Trauma Service ?

If you are feeling comfortable with your birth experience and no longer need our service we will discharge you and notify your GP. If you are registered with the midwives and/or health visitors we will notify them too.

If you are not comfortable with your birth experience after meeting with us there are other support services we can refer you to who may be able to help you further.

For more information please contact:
Powys.BRTS@wales.nhs.uk or call 01597 828755
Please provide your name and contact number in any correspondence.

Birth reflections and trauma service update