I have a suspicion that the PTSD might be related to a previously undiagnosed psychological disorder. The body is a wonderful thing and has miraculous ways of allowing us to survive. Childbirth isn't easy but women have been doing it for eons. I don't think PTSD is an appropriate response to anything short of a near-death experience. Don't these hospitals have medication?

I didn't have an easy childbirth with my son. Labor was induced and after 12 hours of fruitless pain incurred by Pitocin, I had a C-section. I was tired but I really didn't care. I wanted that baby OUT. Despite the major surgery, I was walking the next day (thanks Perc & Motrin Combo!).

You're sick, frightened and terrified that you and your child might die, what part of this wouldn't lead to PTSD if you're prone to it? By definition, if you are having a very difficult labor, things are going wrong, ex. eclampsia, heavy blood loss, shock, premature labor. It's not common in developed countries, but women and children still do die during birth. While this doesn't describe the vast majority of child births, it does describe some. People have (obviously) been giving birth for eons, but that doesn't mean they don't develop PTSD. People have also been fighting wars for eons. People have been depressed, had epilepsy, and arthritis for eons. The difference is that now we can treat them.

Then you should give your kids away before they are teenagers. Seriously. If everything is a medical handicap then maybe having a family is not for you.

I had a pretty bad first childbirth experience with my son (28 hrs of unmedicated labor, him getting stuck in my birth canal, the midwife painfully trying to turn him around, followed by C-section finally). I was diagnosed with post-partum anxiety and depression, which let up about 6 months later with help from medication. I did have the flashbacks and severe anxiety about my son's safety initially. Those didn't go away until I was started on the meds.

For all those pooh-poohing a diagnosis of PTSD from childbirth, I wouldn't count it out. It all depends on the experience. No, it's not like being in a war at all, but it can be traumatic and you can feel like you're going to die, even if that isn't a realistic possibility.

I guess the great weakness to the study for me was the wide number (possibly 18%) of women having PTSD symptoms. Sorry, but that can't be accurately assessed as connected to childbirth alone. Most births, in DEVELOPED countries, are fairly easy. I too had a complicated birth, baby with Tachy & Bradycardia, C-Section and I bounced back very easily. Hospitals are prepared.

The woman with the nightmare 26-hour labor sounds like she was being tortured by the midwife. I can't help but to wonder why she was forced to endure such a dreadful experience? Didn't she plan on meds? I know many women in my childbirth class wanted a natural childbirth. I thought to myself, "what the devil for? It's not a competition to see how much pain you can endure."

"I don't think PTSD is an appropriate response to anything short of a near-death experience. Don't these hospitals have medication?"

I can see several kinds of complicated birth scenarios that could earn a PTSD label:

*my sil had placenta previa: she hemorrhaged when she went into labor, and had to call 911 before she bled out on her kitchen floor.

* a friend of the family lost her baby at 40 weeks (infection), and was induced to deliver a stillborn babe on her due date.

* a friend's mom had an emergency hysterectomy after delivering her first (and obviously only!0 child.

*an acquaintance delivered via emergency c-section, when her OB feared the uterus ruptured during labor (first pregnancy).

*a good friend had an incompetent cervix and was in labor for 48+ hours (by labor I mean strong contractions less than 5 minutes apart, and lasting more than a minute each)

*another good friend went into labor 7 weeks early, and delivered a 34 week premie after trying for several days o control the contractions in hospital.

other traumatic birth stories I've heard (acquaintances or friend-of-a-friend) over the years include:

*life-threatening complications from preeclampsa

*sudden fetal distress (cord wrapped around neck, un dxed fetal heart condition, un dxed underdeveloped lungs, etc)

*severe perinneal tearing

*fistula

*very early premies (26-32 weekers, eg)

Any or all of these could have ended the life of the mother, or the fetus, or both. And any or all of these must have been extremely emotionally draining experiences, accompanied by physical pain, and strong sense memories. If any of these women were labeled with postpartum PTSD, I'd not raise an eyebrow.

I don't know enough about post-partum issues, but I do know a fair amount about PTSD-- I have done a fair amount of work over the years with victims of torture and combat vets. I can believe it happens post-partum, but the numbers (as they always do) seem rather high.

The first thing about PTSD is that it isn't an on/off switch, it is a matter of degree; some people have a few, relatively light symptoms, and others are totally incapacitated, and everything in between. The other thing is that PTSD is itself something of a grab-bag, with a rather wide range of triggers, issues, symptoms, etc.

Generally, even in the case of prolonged labor, high levels of danger, and invasive interventions, the experience is still of relatively short duration-- PTSD is driven by a combo of intensity and duration of trauma; for an event to trigger it that only lasted a day or so, it would usually have to be very bad indeed. Much more typical of PTSD sufferers are people who lived under fear and stress for prolonged periods, and had more than one highly traumatic event over that period.

The other thing is that most childbirth occurs in a somewhat voluntary situation-- volunteer soldiers are much less likely to suffer than conscripts; anti-government guerrillas less likely to get it than innocent torture victims. Not that they still don't get it, but it is a strong mitigating factor.

So yeah, I can see some women getting some degree of PTSD, but no way in those numbers.