Trauma Informed Care in the Perinatal Period

Pregnancy is a crucial point of intersection between generations. During pregnancy, women with a childhood maltreatment history have a 12-fold increased risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although awareness of the need for trauma-informed care and trauma-specific interventions is increasing in the fields of addiction and mental health treatment, there are no front-line programmes for the childbearing year that address maltreatment-related PTSD. The authors address these intergenerational cycles of childhood maltreatment and psychiatric vulnerability; they provide a resource to facilitate incorporating trauma-informed care and trauma-specific interventions into maternity services; and they signal the opportunities for improving outcomes for childbearing women with a history of childhood maltreatment.This volume provides an overview of information that child welfare and perinatal professionals can use in their work to move towards providing trauma informed care and developing trauma-specific interventions to improve intergenerational outcomes.

The EditorsJulia Seng, Professor of Nursing, Obstetrics and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan, USA and Julie Taylor, NSPCC Professor of Child Protection, School of Health and Population Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK.The ContributorsCatherine Acton is a clinical psychologist working in a perinatal emotional health team at a large public maternity hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Kristen R. Choi is a nurse and PhD student at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, USA. Chris Cuthbert is the Head of Strategy and Development for Children Under One at the UK’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Jane Fisher is Jean Hailes Professor of Women’s Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, Australia. Heather Rowe is Senior Research Fellow in the Jean Hailes Research Unit School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, Australia. Mickey Sperlich is an experienced midwife and Assistant Professor of Social Work at the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA.