TRAUMA-INFORMED COUNSELLING FOR MENTAL HEALTH OF NURSING MOTHERS AFTER CHILDBIRTH TRAUMA IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her potential, copes with the normal stress of life, works productively, and fruitfully, and can make contributions to his or her community. Mental health may be a mirage for nursing mothers who have suffered trauma after birth. Birth trauma is otherwise known as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after childbirth is
distress experienced by nursing mothers during or after childbirth. While trauma can be physical through birth injury, it can also be emotional and psychological. It can be how a nursing mother feels after the delivery experience. For some nursing mothers, birthing trauma is triggered by circumstances other than exciting or dramatic occurrences, such as loss of control, loss of dignity,
unfriendly attitudes of those around them, feelings of not being heard, or the lack of informed consent to medical procedures. Long labour or short and painful labour, induction, poor pain relief, high levels of medical intervention, forceps births, emergency caesarean section, problems with staff attitude, lack of information or explanation, lack of privacy and dignity, fear for the baby's safety,
stillbirth, the birth of a baby with a disability as a result of a traumatic birth, baby's stay in the Special Care Unit or Neonatal Intensive Care, baby's stay in the special care unit or neonatal intensive Although some of the symptoms of birth trauma and Postpartum Depression (PPD) are similar, the two illnesses are unique and must be treated separately. Unfortunately, many nursing
mothers are mistakenly labelled with PPD and given medicine that may or may not assist their situation. Nursing women are frequently advised to move on with their life or to be grateful for their healthy children. This may exacerbate their existing emotions of guilt and solitude. Because the illness is not widely understood or diagnosed, nursing women may end up with antidepressant prescriptions rather than therapy. Suggestions were proffered on how the use of trauma-informed counselling can help nursing mothers who had gone through childbirth trauma cope adequately to achieve optimal mental health.