Moving Beyond Childhood Sexual Abuse in Motherhood

Kathy Morelli
12 hours ago
5 min read

Trauma-Informed Support During the Perinatal Period

Content note: This article discusses childhood sexual abuse and its impact on mental health during pregnancy and postpartum.

Childhood sexual abuse can have long-lasting effects on a woman’s emotional and physical well-being, sometimes resurfacing during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period. This article explores how early trauma may influence perinatal mental health and offers supportive, non-judgmental guidance for navigating the childbearing year.

Childhood sexual abuse and a woman’s subsequent reproductive years, including menstruation, pregnancy, birth and ongoing sexuality, occurs years or even decades apart. Yet, in my clinical practice, I have found these issues to be intertwined.

Sexual themes resonate with a woman on multiple levels: within her body, her emotions and her psychology. And distress from childhood sexual abuse can resurface during the emotionally and hormonally charged time of pregnancy and postpartum. What research exists, finds that women who suffered from childhood sexual abuse have an elevated risk of postpartum depression, besides other physical and emotional symptoms.

Related triggers around reproductive health

During Pregnancy

Body-based feelings in pregnancy can be re-triggering to a woman who has deep, somatic memories of childhood sexual abuse. Simple things such as the position of your body during vaginal exams can bring back emotional memories of past abuse. The baby moving inside your body might cause intense joy, but might also create an underlying uneasiness.

During Birth

Childbirth is an intense experience; a time of hormonal, physical and emotional exertion. Early trauma can be triggered by a particular scent for example, or a body position. If you feel powerless, not heard, or disregarded by your healthcare providers during childbirth, it can activate the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and flashbacks of your past trauma.

During Postpartum

There are many physical, emotional and psychological factors feeding your emotional health during this time. And it’s true that a pre-existing personal depressive or anxiety disorder, or pre-existing PTSD, sets your body up for another episode postpartum.

Intense physical/hormonal changes, plus adjusting to a new lifestyle caring for an infant is physically and emotionally challenging. Feelings of frustration emerge as you adjust your schedule to accommodate your baby. The endless touching may leave you feeling like your body isn’t your own anymore. Breastfeeding may feel triggering to some, as it too may trigger confusing sexual feelings.

What can you do to proactively manage your mental health during these phases of motherhood?

Know that your experience of childhood sexual abusive does NOT define you, your past does NOT have to be your destiny. With perseverance, you can move beyond being a survivor towards thriving and blooming beautifully.

But it’s not an easy task, but your self-esteem is worth the fight! Managing the effects of an abusive childhood is an on-going deeply personal experience. It’s honorable life work, and highly individualized. As you move along your healing path, you’ll choose what’s right for you.

Tips to help enhance your experience of pregnancy, birth and postpartum:

Recognize that post-traumatic stress is a real disorder, not some fake diagnosis.
Practice Self-Love: Self-love is not just an empty cliché: it’s something worth fighting for! Allow yourself to rest and be gentle with yourself during all three stages of motherhood.
Try to make time to get help with a licensed mental health professional before pregnancy. It’s best to put in your emotional work before starting a family, but it can also be done if you are already pregnant or postpartum (see below.) It’s never too late to begin!
Face your fears and past, at your own pace, in a safe and professional environment.
Work with a gynecologist/obstetrics/midwifery provider with whom you feel comfortable enough to discuss your individual situation. Investigate the hospital or birth center where your provider practices, to make sure it’s the right fit for you. If your provider or the institution don’t meet your needs, you are empowered to find another. It’s important to advocate for your own health care.
Find an experienced childbirth educator who is accepting of your personal choices. Birthing and breastfeeding classes really do help on an emotional level as well.
Remember that birth is an unpredictable experience. If your birth experience doesn’t follow your birth plan, you can still feel good about it. You are not less of a woman or mother, no matter how your birth happens.
Honor the achievement of childbirth and motherhood. You are growing a life! That is a huge accomplishment.
Understand that your hormonal balance takes at least three months after birth to come back to pre-pregnancy levels.
Honor and protect yourself during “the fourth trimester” and beyond, as your body shift towards balance:
1. Rest; develop the mindset of being, not doing
2. Practice good nutrition with whole foods and good supplements
3. Get help. If you can afford it, set up some time with a postpartum doula or a baby nurse so you can rest
4. Don’t underestimate the power of sleep; work out a sleep plan. Even if you are breastfeeding, don’t be the only one getting up to feed the baby
5. Practice mindfulness and relaxation to counteract the inevitable challenges of caring for a new born and the emotional change of identity in motherhood
Nurture yourself with complementary care. Safe touch helps rebalance your bodymind
Expect some emotional ups and downs and realize these are normal.
Social support is important. Women who “Tend and Befriend” IRL and online feel supported.
If you feel very sad or anxious, there is a lot of professional help available to you. You are not less of a mother if you see a doctor or therapist. Taking care of you makes you a better mother.

A book some survivors find meaningful is A River of Forgetting, which explores healing and memory through a deeply personal lens.

Understanding trauma-related vulnerability during pregnancy and postpartum is an essential part of perinatal mental health care.

If you had the experience of childhood sexual abuse, know that post-traumatic growth is possible. Don’t wait to honor yourself by doing the emotional work. Ask for and get help.

You are not alone.

Research on childhood sexual abuse and perinatal mental health is ongoing. The studies listed below represent foundational findings that continue to inform current trauma-informed care.

Bibliography

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Lev-Weisel, R., Daphna- Tekoah, S., Hallak, M. (2009). Childhood sexual abuse as a predictor of birth-related posttraumatic stress and postpartum posttraumatic stress. Child Abuse and Neglect, 33, 877-887.

McGregor, K., Gautam, J., Glover, M., & Jülich, S. (2013). Health care and female survivors of childhood sexual abuse: Health professionals' perspectives. Journal Of Child Sexual Abuse, 22(6), 761-775. doi:10.1080/10538712.2013.811143

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