Ep. 08 / the impact of birth trauma on babies & their families

Jul 12

“Birth is a pattern, birth is an experience in our body. It is held as a memory in our body - along with most everything else that happens to us in life.”

— Kate White

Kate White is is an award-winning educator and an advanced bodyworker, with a focus on working with babies and families that have experienced birth trauma. For over 20 years, she has specialized in mother-baby care using somatic approaches for both trauma prevention and healing. She is trained in multiple somatic therapies, prenatal and perinatal health, lactation, brain development, and infant mental health.

I was introduced to her work while I was pregnant in 2020, during the tension of the global pandemic, and was drawn in to the research being shared in prenatal mental health, birth interventions & outcomes, and the connections being made with a baby's mental health into adulthood. I immediately started studying inside of her library of educational offerings and what I learned certainly had an affect on the choices I made for my birth, but also in my resolve in labor. We recorded this in December 2021, a year later, and it was a delicious full-circle moment for me.

But now more than ever, this conversation is essential for every person. Birth is political, birth is cultural, and we must be considering both the body’s experience and the living story for both Mom and baby. We know the ripple effects carry an imprint far beyond birth - and will in turn shape our society’s well-being.

So, what can we do now?

Our conversation is rich with case studies, personal shares and clinical research findings to help you consider the baby’s experience in birth, how & why it matters, and what we can do to build a better society by supporting the blueprint of our being.

Episode topics:

Kate’s experience in her first birth & how it led her to learn more about birth
Kate’s craniosacral bodywork and adult clients remembering their own birth on her table
How craniosacral bodywork is integrally linked with each human's birth experience
Case Study: The body remembers - The story of “Client Zero”, and what it revealed to Kate
What is implicit memory, and how it shows up
The biological impulse to integrate our lived experiences
Causes of survival nervous system states in babies
Case study: The healing potential for women to work with their first birth story going into subsequent pregnancies
What Maternal Fetal Medicine is recognizing about birth outcomes and neurodevelopmental imprints
The many layers of healing in a birth story
Case Study: Working with the baby after birth - the connection between sleep troubles, tongue ties, posture and baby’s birth experience
Painting a vision - What kind of impact could birth story healing have on the future of mental health in our society?