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Making birth a better experience for all

What is vicarious trauma?

Let us explain.

 
 

You chose to work in maternity care because you care. A lot. Because there’s nothing more beautiful than guiding families through the rite of passage that is parenthood. You knew it’s not always a story of joy, which was even more reason to follow this path. You wanted to be there by their side when it got tough. Because you care.   

But it’s becoming too much. You’re angry, sad, numbed. You used to feel passion, but now you’re a pessimist. You’ve become cynical.


Maternity care is an emotionally charged environment. It can be highly rewarding but it comes with huge challenges too.

 
“I’ve suffered with burnout. I endured years of sleepless nights, often waking with my heart racing at 3am before an on-call shift and having pretty troubling thoughts at times.”
— Leah - Obstetrician

What should I look out for?

Dr Jan Smith, Clinicial Psychologist and Clinical Lead at Make Birth Better core team shares her experience.

 
 
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It might not necessarily be one single event that results in experiencing feelings of trauma. More often it’s due to repeated exposure of difficult events overtime.  

Common signs of vicarious trauma

Being aware of these signs can be useful. It helps you notice whether there are changes in you, or in your colleagues:

  • Being distant, feeling numb, detached, or like you are cut-off from women or birthing people in your care

  • Experiencing feelings that you struggle to ‘shake off’, like anger, sadness or mistrust about specific incidents

  • A deep sense of guilt, shame, feelings of self-doubt at being a bystander

  • Feeling preoccupied with thoughts of the incident or persons involved, away from work

  • Loss of hope, feeling pessimism and cynicism

  • Difficulty maintaining professional boundaries with those you are supporting. Feeling a need to rescue or protect them

  • Low mood, increased anxiety when thinking about returning to work

Having one or two of these signs does not necessarily mean you are experiencing vicarious trauma. However, it could indicate some early warning signs that you might be more vulnerable to experiencing this. 

Take a look at these ideas for self-care here and click below if you want to find help.

 
 

If you’re a professional and you want to know what you can do to prevent birth trauma and vicarious trauma in your practice or work setting, please go to our training page here.

 
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