Half of Your Patients Are Leaving the Delivery Room Traumatized. We Never Learned How to Help Them.

Birth trauma is not rare, not inevitable, and not untreatable. It is simply undertaught — and that failure belongs to us.

She was 34, first pregnancy, no complications. The birth went smoothly by every metric in her chart. Apgar scores 9 and 9. Three hours of pushing, but vaginal delivery. Baby healthy. Mother discharged in good condition.

Six weeks later she sat in my office and told me she could not sleep, could not be touched, and had nightmares about the delivery every …