“The whole system contributes to trauma,” Moore says. “Often women are being cared for by frontline staff, who are doing their job but not with much compassion, because they are burnt out.” The Make Births Better campaign focuses on offering training to medical professionals in an attempt to tackle this. Small changes that cost nothing, such as using kind language and less jargon, can make all the difference in stopping women developing physical and mental problems as a result of giving birth.

Most women would agree that giving birth is a defining and transformative event. And with the right support, good can even come from the most traumatic of births.

Lucy Webber says her experience has helped her become a gentler parent and Stephanie has even decided to become a midwife.

Almost two years on, my own life is gradually getting easier, but I approach my daughter’s birthday with a mixture of excitement and trepidation because of the memories and physical reactions it will undoubtedly trigger. She is the best gift I could ever hope for and her birthday will also be a celebration of how far we have come since her arrival.

Besides the little toy guitar we will be giving her, perhaps the best gift I can offer is to play my own small part in challenging the norms of what it is to give birth and be a mother, so birth trauma and postnatal PTSD can be dealt with in the open.

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