Vicarious traumatization in maternity care providers

Slade, Pauline; Sheen, Kayleigh; Spiby, Helen

Abstract

Maternity professionals, through providing care during childbirth, may sometimes encounter adverse events that fulfil criteria for trauma. Exposure to events that caregivers experience as traumatic (whether or not the same events are actually experienced as traumatic by the woman giving birth) can elicit the same psychological response in those present as can occur in those directly affected by the event, with adverse implications for staff personal well-being [1]. Staff well-being is important not just for themselves but because it has the potential to impact upon quality of care they can provide.

Most of the existing literature on the impact of vicarious exposure to trauma focuses on events such as natural disasters, road traffic accidents and accidents resulting in emergency care. However, healthcare professionals engaged in the provision of care during childbirth may experience trauma that is qualitatively different to this. Childbirth in the developed world generally occurs in a positive social context. When birthing events involve threat to the life of the mother or child, there is juxtaposition between anticipation and reality that is absent in other types of trauma exposure. Therefore, specific consideration of the impact of indirect exposure to traumatic perinatal events (events occurring during labour, delivery or in the early postpartum) is important.

This chapter provides an overview of current evidence pertaining to the experience and impact of traumatic perinatal events in maternity care providers. The first section will describe the nature of psychological responses to vicarious trauma. The second section will discuss current understandings about the nature of events perceived as traumatic by care providers and consider the prevalence of work-related traumatic stress responses, aspects associated with increased risk and supportive strategies. The final section will highlight key areas for further research, and present recommendations that require further testing in clinical settings.

• Online Publication Date: Aug 30, 2017
• Publication Date: 2017
• Deposit Date: Oct 17, 2022
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Pages: 359-367
• Book Title: Biopsychosocial Factors in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Chapter Number: 40
• ISBN: 9781316341261; 9781107120143
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316341261.041
• Keywords: Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Medicine, Medicine, Psychiatry, Trauma, Maternity care providers, Maternity care
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10022026
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/biopsychosocial-factors-in-obstetrics-and-gynaecology/vicarious-traumatization-in-maternity-care-providers/AA867E5C0A8B7D40920F41CB4EC7DEC4
• Related Public URLs: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/biopsychosocial-factors-in-obstetrics-and-gynaecology/A8559D3CCFB2C2BBC4E4E2583EE6A4A5