Postpartum Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Over 40% of women report that their labor was traumatic; however, a small percentage experience trauma that leads to the development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms following the labor and delivery experience. The exact prevalence of Postpartum PTSD depends on the presence of significant risk factors, such as experience of prenatal depression or anxiety symptoms, a high-risk pregnancy, a history of other mental health diagnoses, childhood sexual abuse, and other traumatic experiences (Beck et al., 2013; Shlomi, Dulitzky, Margolis-Dorfman, & Simchen, 2016). For women without many risk factors, postpartum PTSD rates are approximately 3% of the population; however, for those who carry significant risk factors, prevalence rates are over 15% (Grekin & O’Hara, 2014).