Woman sitting in hospital bed after giving birth.

Find Healing Through Specialized Birth Trauma Therapy

Gentle, Personalized Support After a Traumatic Birth

Experiencing a traumatic birth can leave lasting emotional scars, even when everything seems “okay” on the outside. Whether your experience involved unexpected medical interventions, feelings of helplessness, or time in the NICU, birth trauma therapy offers a path to process what happened — and begin healing.

At Balanced Wellness, we understand how real and complex these experiences can be. Our therapists provide compassionate care designed to help you feel safe, supported, and empowered to move forward — at your pace, in your way.

What Is Birth Trauma?

Birth is often portrayed as joyful — but for many mothers, the experience can also be frightening, disorienting, or even traumatic. Birth trauma refers to any distressing emotional or psychological experience during childbirth, regardless of the clinical outcome. It’s deeply personal — what feels traumatic to one person may not seem so to another.

You don’t have to justify your feelings. If you’re carrying pain, fear, or overwhelm after giving birth, you deserve support — and birth trauma therapy can help you begin healing.

Woman holding her head, working through birth trauma symptoms.

Common Causes of Birth Trauma

  • Emergency C-sections or medical interventions

  • Feeling powerless, ignored, or unheard during labor

  • Unexpected complications or NICU admissions

  • Pain that felt out of control or dismissed

  • Birth plans that were dramatically altered

Common Symptoms

  • Flashbacks or intrusive thoughts

  • Avoidance of medical care or baby-related memories

  • Panic attacks or intense anxiety

  • Emotional numbness or guilt

  • Trouble bonding with your baby

  • Disrupted sleep or appetite

Traumatic birth therapy offers a safe space to process these symptoms and reclaim your emotional well-being, no matter how long it’s been since your birth experience.

Learn more about how birth trauma can show up in our blog: Understanding Birth Trauma: Causes, Effects, and Recovery

How Birth Trauma Therapy Can Help You Heal

At Balanced Wellness, our approach to birth trauma therapy is built on the belief that healing happens when you're supported with care that honors both your story and your nervous system. Our therapists are experienced in treating the emotional impact of traumatic birth through gentle, evidence-based methods designed to help you feel safe, grounded, and empowered.

A woman getting birth trauma therapy to work through some of her symptoms.

Therapeutic Approaches We Use Include:

  • EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
    A research-supported therapy that helps you safely process and reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic birth memories — without needing to relive the experience.

  • Somatic Therapy
    Focuses on the connection between body and mind, using movement, breath, and awareness to release stored trauma and restore a sense of safety in your body.

You’ll Also Receive:

  • A personalized care plan based on your goals and needs

  • A therapist who specializes in maternal mental health and trauma

  • Flexible scheduling, with both in-person and virtual therapy options

  • A compassionate space to process without judgment or pressure

What you went through matters — and so does your healing.

Connect with a birth trauma therapist who truly understands.

Traumatic birth therapy isn’t about “getting over it.” It’s about moving through it — with support you can trust.

Birth Trauma Can Affect Anyone —
And You Deserve Support

There’s no “right” kind of birth to feel traumatized by. Whether your experience felt physically overwhelming, emotionally neglected, or nothing like what you expected — your response is valid.

  • In Person Sessions

    We offer birth trauma therapy in:
    Bluffton, South Carolina & Wilmington, North Carolina

  • Virtual Sessions

    Online throughout Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida

Support for Every Birth, Every Story

We meet you where you are — emotionally, physically, and in life. If your birth experience still lives with you in the form of fear, grief, anxiety, or numbness, traumatic birth therapy can help you begin to move through it, not just past it.

Woman on the operating table holding her newborn for the first time after a c-section.
Woman holding her new born after a water birth.
Woman holding her newborn showing her c-section scar

Birth trauma therapy is here for you if:

  • You’re a first-time mom still reeling from your delivery

  • You’ve given birth before — but this time felt very different

  • You had an emergency C-section, NICU stay, or medical complications

  • You felt unseen, unheard, or dismissed during your birth

  • You experienced a traumatic birth after a loss, fertility journey, or IVF

  • You’re part of a blended, single-parent, or LGBTQ+ family navigating recovery in your own way

Your story is valid. Your pain is real. And your healing is possible.

Why Choose Balanced Wellness?

Healing from a traumatic birth requires more than general therapy — it requires care that understands the emotional, physical, and psychological layers unique to the perinatal experience.

At Balanced Wellness, birth trauma therapy isn’t just something we offer — it’s something we specialize in. Our therapists are trained in maternal mental health and trauma recovery, many of them with lived experience as mothers themselves. We create a space where your story can be safely explored and gently held.

The Balanced Wellness team of specialized therapists ready to help women and family that need support with birth trauma.

Here’s what makes us different:

  • A dedicated focus on maternal mental health and birth-related trauma

  • Therapists trained in EMDR, somatic therapy, and trauma-informed care

  • Thoughtful therapist matching to support your individual needs

  • Flexible scheduling and hybrid access: in-person or virtual therapy options

  • Inclusive, identity-affirming care for all families

You’ll never be expected to “just move on” here. We’ll meet you exactly where you are, with compassion and care you can trust. Meet our team and learn more about the therapists who are here to support you.

The right birth trauma therapist can help you reclaim your sense of safety and self.

We’d be honored to walk with you as you heal.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Birth trauma is a psychological or emotional response to a distressing or frightening childbirth experience. It’s not about how “serious” the birth was medically — it’s about how it made you feel. If you walked away from your birth feeling scared, violated, ignored, or overwhelmed, that experience is valid and worth processing.

  • If you’re having trouble moving past your birth experience, struggling with anxiety or panic, or feeling disconnected from yourself or your baby, therapy can help. Even if your birth happened months or years ago, it’s never too late to begin healing.

  • We use evidence-based approaches including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and somatic therapy — both proven to help people process and release the effects of trauma in a safe, empowering way.

  • Yes. We offer virtual therapy for birth trauma to clients across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida — so you can get support in the space where you feel most comfortable.

  • Yes. There’s no threshold you need to meet to seek support. If something about your birth experience still lingers emotionally, that’s reason enough to talk to someone who understands.

  • Sessions are typically 50–55 minutes long. We’ll work with you to decide on a schedule that fits your needs — whether that’s weekly, biweekly, or something else entirely. Therapy is flexible and built around what’s sustainable for you.

  • Absolutely. If your partner is part of your support system — or if you're struggling together — we can integrate couples sessions into your care. We also offer marriage and couples therapy for families navigating life transitions and relationship strain during the postpartum period.

You Don’t Have to Carry This Alone

If your birth experience left emotional wounds that haven’t healed, you’re not weak — you’re human. With the right support, healing from birth trauma is not only possible, it’s within reach.

Let us help you take the first step toward feeling like you again.

Your story matters. Your healing matters. And we’re here when you’re ready.