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Essay About Birthing Experience

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Healing and Bonding: MDMA Therapy After a Difficult Birthing Experience

With my first child I labored for 4.5 hours after an induction. Due to the fast labor I required an epidural and fundal pressure during pushing. Despite understanding that the medical interventions I received were necessary, I had not planned on them. This made me feel somewhat cheated from the birth experience I wanted. Although I had a comparatively easy birth experience, I was unaware of how much my birth experience negatively impacted me. It wasn’t until I became pregnant with my second child that I realized I was more fearful going into my second childbirth than I was with my first. This has made me realize the importance of processing birth experiences, especially difficult ones.
Giving birth can be a wonderful experience. However, it can also be complicated and confusing. Both social scientists and medical professionals have recognized that giving birth in the modern medical setting can sometimes trigger feelings of fear, helplessness and loss of control, which can have a lasting negative impact on women, leading to postpartum depression (PPD), PTSD, and fear of future birthing experiences. Processing a birthing experience with the help of a trained professional can potentially reduce these negative effects, and …show more content…

However, looking back over my first birth experience and realizing the long term negative effect that difficult birth experiences may have on women, I have realized that processing childbirth soon after the event is necessary for most women in order to integrate the experience into their lives. For the women who have experienced more difficult childbirth experiences, further research into the connection between birth-related PTSD and PPD is needed. Additionally, the potential benefits of processing difficult birth experiences with MDMA therapy should be

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