Birth Trauma Therapy
for moms in Pasadena & Sierra Madre
For the woman who can’t stop replaying her birth story
When your birth didn't go the way you hoped.
Maybe everyone tells you,
"At least your baby is healthy."
"The important thing is that you're both okay."
While those things may be true, they don't erase what happened.
Instead of remembering your baby's birth with joy, you replay moments you'd rather forget. Certain memories still make your heart race. You may avoid talking about your birth altogether, or find yourself wondering what you could have done differently.
You might even question whether what you experienced was "bad enough" to call it trauma.
If your birth continues to affect you long after it ended, your experience matters. Birth trauma is real, and healing is possible.
Birth trauma is more common than many people realize.
Birth trauma isn't defined only by medical emergencies or life-threatening complications. What makes an experience traumatic is how it was experienced by you.
For some women, birth trauma follows an emergency C-section, severe hemorrhage, an unexpected NICU stay, a frightening medical emergency, or complications during labor and delivery. For others, it comes from feeling powerless, dismissed, unheard, unsupported, or frightened during one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
Sometimes the trauma isn't only the birth itself—it's being unexpectedly separated from your baby, watching medical teams take over, or feeling helpless during those first hours or days.
Research suggests that up to one in three women describe their birth as traumatic, and approximately 3–6% develop childbirth-related PTSD. Many more continue to experience anxiety, grief, intrusive memories, or fear about future pregnancies.
Whatever your story looks like, you deserve to have it heard without minimizing what you've been through.
You may be experiencing...
✓ Replaying your birth over and over
✓ Nightmares or intrusive memories about labor or delivery
✓ Feeling anxious before postpartum or medical appointments
✓ Avoiding conversations about your birth
✓ Feeling guilty or blaming yourself for what happened
✓ Feeling angry with medical providers or your body
✓ Feeling overwhelmed when you think about your labor, delivery, or your baby's NICU stay
✓ Difficulty bonding with your baby because you're overwhelmed by your own experience
✓ Feeling panicked when thinking about another pregnancy
✓ Feeling like no one truly understands what happened
✓ Wondering why you "can't just move on"
These responses are common after a traumatic birth. They don't mean you're weak—they mean your mind and body are still trying to make sense of what happened.
Therapy can help you process what happened.
Healing doesn't mean pretending your birth wasn't traumatic.
It doesn't mean forcing yourself to "be grateful" or forgetting what happened.
It means helping your nervous system recognize that the trauma is over so you no longer have to relive it every day.
Together, we'll gently process your birth story, explore the emotions you've been carrying, and help you reconnect with a sense of safety, confidence, and hope.
My approach integrates EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic therapy, attachment-based therapy, and nervous system regulation. Whether your trauma stems from medical complications, an unexpected NICU stay, feeling powerless during labor, an unplanned birth experience, or not feeling heard during one of the most vulnerable moments of your life, therapy can help you move toward healing with compassion and care.
Your birth story deserves to be heard.
You don't have to convince me that it was traumatic.
You don't have to explain why it still hurts.
You don't have to choose between being grateful for your baby and grieving what happened during their birth.
Both can be true.
Your experience matters.
Your healing matters.
And you don't have to walk this journey alone.
You don't have to carry your birth story alone. Healing is possible, and there is hope after trauma.
Together, we'll gently process what happened so your birth story no longer feels like something you're reliving every day.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Birth trauma is the emotional or psychological distress that can occur during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or the immediate postpartum period. While some women experience life-threatening complications, others feel traumatized because they felt powerless, frightened, unheard, unsupported, or deeply overwhelmed during childbirth. If your birth continues to affect you long after delivery, your experience is valid.
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Yes. Many women feel confused because they're grateful their baby is healthy but are still deeply affected by what happened during birth. These two experiences are not mutually exclusive. You can celebrate your baby while also grieving, processing, or healing from a traumatic birth.
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Absolutely. Many parents describe the NICU as one of the most frightening experiences of their lives. The fear, uncertainty, medical procedures, unexpected separation from your baby, and loss of the birth experience you imagined can leave lasting emotional wounds. Even if your baby is thriving today, it's okay to acknowledge that those early days were incredibly difficult. Therapy can help you process what happened and move forward without minimizing your experience.
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You may find yourself replaying your birth, avoiding reminders of the experience, feeling anxious about medical settings or future pregnancies, having nightmares or intrusive memories, or becoming overwhelmed when you think about your labor or delivery. Birth trauma looks different for everyone, and you don't need a formal PTSD diagnosis to benefit from support.
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Yes. EMDR is one of the most effective, evidence-based treatments for trauma. It can help reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic memories so they no longer feel like you're reliving them. As a therapist trained in EMDR and certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C), I integrate EMDR when it's appropriate for your unique experience.
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Absolutely. Fear of another pregnancy or birth is incredibly common after a traumatic delivery. Therapy can help you process your previous experience, reduce trauma-related anxiety, and approach future decisions with greater confidence and a renewed sense of safety.
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Not at all. Birth trauma isn't determined by what happened medically—it's determined by how the experience affected you. Whether your trauma stems from an emergency intervention, an unexpected NICU stay, feeling unheard by your medical team, a loss of control, or an unexpected change to your birth plan, your experience deserves compassionate care.
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Yes. I offer in-person therapy in Sierra Madre, serving women throughout Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, as well as secure online therapy for adults anywhere in California.