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Review
. 2023 Feb 4;20(4):2775.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20042775.

Traumatic Childbirth Experience and Childbirth-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Contemporary Overview

Leonieke Kranenburg  1 , Mijke Lambregtse-van den Berg  2 , Claire Stramrood  3
Affiliations
Review

Traumatic Childbirth Experience and Childbirth-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Contemporary Overview

Leonieke Kranenburg et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

With this manuscript we provide an overview of the prevalence, symptoms, risk factors, screening, support, and treatment for women with a traumatic childbirth experience or childbirth-related PTSD. This overview is based on both recent literature and the authors' clinical experiences from the fields of obstetrics, psychiatry and medical psychology to provide up-to-date knowledge about recognizing, preventing and treating CB-PTSD from a clinical perspective. We pay substantial attention to prevention as there are many things health care professionals can do or not do to contribute to a positive childbirth experience, and save women, their infants and families from a sub-optimal start due to childbirth-related trauma.

Keywords: PTSD; childbirth; overview.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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