Birth Trauma Therapy in Chesapeake, VA

Your birth is over. Your body is still back in that room.

You love your baby. You're grateful. And your stomach still drops when you drive past the hospital, or when someone asks, "So how was the birth?"

I'm Karen, a trauma therapist and former certified nurse-midwife, and I help your body finally stand down.

When it looks fine from the outside

You Can Be Grateful and Still Have Birth Trauma

Birth trauma is a lasting stress response to a birth that felt frightening, out of control, or unsafe. It can follow an emergency c-section, a NICU stay, or decisions made around you instead of with you. It can happen even when the outcome was "good" by every medical measure. That's confusing, and it's also your body asking for curiosity and care.

"I'm grateful, but..."

You thank the nurses and post the newborn photos, and you mean it. You can also feel sick when you think about that day. Gratitude doesn't erase what your body went through.

I hear this one a lot, and I understand why it feels true. When a birth goes sideways, your body is the easiest thing to blame. What I see is a body that went into survival mode in that room and hasn't been told it's over yet.

"I should have done more."

Of course you keep replaying it. Replaying every decision feels like problem-solving, and it's easier than facing how little room there was. You don't have to settle that question today. We'll look at it together, at your pace.

Maybe things moved fast and decisions got made around you, or people talked about you instead of to you. Anger about that doesn't make you ungrateful. It's a response to being left out of your own birth.

Everyone else's feed looks great, and you got the healthy baby, so you keep most of this to yourself. You don't need a worse story to deserve help. If your body is still reacting, that's reason enough.

NICU nurse. L&D nurse. Midwife. Now, trauma therapist

A Therapist Who Knows What the Room Looks Like

I know the sound a monitor makes when the numbers change. I know the intense faces a team wears when things are moving fast, and how hushed a room gets after a baby is whisked down the hall. Whatever you bring to our sessions, there's a good chance I've seen it before, so you can skip the explaining. I'm not here to grade your birth or make excuses for anyone in it. I'm here for what it left in you.

Birth trauma can leave your body stuck in the seconds after a near miss on the highway, when the car is back in its lane and your hands are still locked on the wheel. Safe doesn't mean you never feel anything. It means your shoulders come down from your ears, your breath reaches your belly, and the dryer buzzer is just a dryer buzzer. I use polyvagal-informed somatic therapy, EMDR (when it's a good fit), CBT, and ACT to help your body hear the all-clear.

You don't need the right words to start. I spent decades in quiet rooms, laboring with families, and we understood each other just fine.

Together, We Help You

• Stop replaying your birth experience so you can be present now.

• Feel safe and at home in your body instead of betrayed by it.

• Release shame and self-blame around what happened.

• Understand your trauma responses instead of feeling broken.

• Rebuild trust in your body and yourself.

• Feel more connected to your baby instead of distant or numb.

• Process what happened in a way that feels honest and healing.



• Know that your story doesn't have to become your child's story.

What happens after you click the button

How Birth Trauma Therapy Works

Come Say "Hello"

We talk for 15 minutes, free. Ask me anything, including the awkward questions, and we'll see if we're a good fit. Tell me what you're hoping will change. You don't have to tell me what happened.

Your first session is a longer intake, where we map out what you want from therapy. From there, we follow your body: pounding in your chest, a catch in the throat, or feet rooted in cement. We stay with those signals until what's stuck begins to move.

Notice the Difference

Over time, the things that used to hijack your day pass faster, and some stop showing up at all. The goal isn't to forget your birth. It's to remember it without your body shutting down or running out of the room.

if you've been telling yourself it'll fade...

Waiting It Out Doesn't Always Work

Plenty of women white-knuckle their way through the first year, sure it'll fade once the sleep comes back. Sometimes it does. Often it just gets quieter and finds new ways in: a routine appointment that leaves you shaky, a baby shower invitation you dread, an argument with your partner that's really about that day.

Living like this can feel like wading through mud, even when you're doing everything right. You can put that energy somewhere else.

Together, We Help You...

Ready to Heal from Birth Trauma?