When Things Go South: Perinatal PTSD

Dr. Chapa’s Clinical Pearls.

It has been stated that “Trauma is in the eye of the beholder”. Healthcare providers must be aware that a woman makes experience a birth as traumatic, even if she and her infant are healthy. The ACOG has highlighted perinatal PTSD in several publications, which we will review in this episode. Perinatal PTSD has definitely been in the OB/GYN and psychology literature with an increased frequency just over the last 3 months. In this episode, we will review the very real and devastating condition of perinatal PTSD, its diagnosis, and discuss interventions to reduce its development. We will also review new data on “service dogs“ detecting PTSD in people with trauma histories? NOTE: We will also highlight a real world account of a traumatic birth event from one of our podcast listeners (Deidentified, and shared with permission).