You made it through childbirth—but now you can’t seem to feel okay.

You may look fine on the outside. The baby is healthy. You’ve recovered physically. Everyone around you says, “All that matters is a healthy baby.”

But you’re not okay—and you’re not alone.

Birth trauma is real, even when everyone walks out of the hospital alive. Many women silently suffer after a difficult or traumatic birth, feeling guilt, confusion, or shame for not being able to “move on.” Whether your experience involved medical interventions, fear for your life or your baby’s, unexpected complications, or just a sense that you weren’t seen or heard during labor, it can leave deep emotional scars.

If you're in Reston, Great Falls, Vienna, or Fairfax, VA—or anywhere in Virginia, Maryland, or DC—EMDR therapy can help you process birth trauma, reclaim your sense of safety, and begin to feel like yourself again.

What Is Birth Trauma?

Birth trauma refers to the emotional and psychological impact of a distressing labor or delivery experience. You don’t have to have had a near-death experience or emergency surgery to be traumatized. What matters is how your nervous system processed the event.

Some common experiences that can cause birth trauma include:

Emergency C-section or unplanned interventions
Feeling powerless or ignored by medical staff
Labor that felt chaotic, rushed, or frightening
Intense physical pain without adequate support
Hemorrhaging or severe complications
NICU admission for your baby
Loss of control, panic, or fear during delivery
Being separated from your baby after birth

Even if everyone tells you things turned out “fine,” your body and brain may still be stuck in that traumatic moment.

Signs You May Be Struggling with Birth Trauma

You might not realize what you're feeling is trauma. Many women think, “I should be grateful,” or “I’m just tired—it’s new mom stuff.” But when your nervous system hasn’t fully processed what happened, trauma can show up in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

Common symptoms of birth trauma:

Flashbacks to the birth or hospital stay
Intrusive thoughts or mental replays of what went wrong
Panic or dread when thinking about giving birth again
Emotional numbness or feeling disconnected from your baby
Anxiety or hypervigilance—constantly on edge
Nightmares or trouble sleeping
Avoiding medical appointments or hospital settings
Feeling like you failed or did something wrong
Shame for not feeling happy after birth
Difficulty bonding, intimacy issues, or anger that doesn’t make sense

These reactions aren’t signs that something is wrong with you. They’re signs your brain is still trying to protect you from something that felt threatening—even if that threat has passed.

Birth Trauma Is a Form of PTSD—And It’s Treatable

You may have heard the term postpartum depression, but fewer people talk about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from birth.

Postpartum PTSD affects thousands of women every year—and it’s often missed or misdiagnosed. You might be told you’re just hormonal, overwhelmed, or anxious. But if your distress is tied to what happened during labor or delivery, it could be birth-related PTSD.

And you don’t have to live with it forever.

How EMDR Therapy Helps with Birth Trauma

I use a powerful, evidence-based approach called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to help women heal from traumatic birth experiences.

Here’s how it works:

EMDR doesn’t require you to retell your birth story in detail. Instead, we focus on specific memories, body sensations, and beliefs (like “I was helpless” or “It was my fault”) that are keeping you stuck. Through a structured and supportive process, EMDR helps your brain reprocess the trauma—so those memories lose their emotional charge and your nervous system can finally settle.

Women I work with often say:

“I can think about my birth without feeling panic.”
“I finally stopped blaming myself.”
“I’m starting to feel connected to my baby again.”
“I didn’t realize how much I was carrying until I started letting it go.”

What Our Work Together Looks Like

You can choose to see me:

In person for a 90-minute EMDR intensive at my Reston, VA office
Virtually for 50-minute trauma therapy sessions across Virginia, Maryland, DC, and select other states

Our work will be gentle, paced, and attuned to your nervous system. You are in control every step of the way.

Who I Work With

I specialize in working with women who:

Had traumatic, complicated, or high-intervention births
Struggle with guilt, flashbacks, or fear after labor
Are afraid of having another baby because of what happened
Feel disconnected or emotionally flat postpartum
Can’t stop replaying what went wrong
Look “fine” on the outside but feel deeply unsettled on the inside

You don’t need a diagnosis to get support. You just need to know that something isn’t right—and you’re ready to feel differently.

You Deserve to Feel Safe Again

The goal isn’t to forget your birth story. It’s to reclaim it—to feel grounded, empowered, and connected again.

You are allowed to grieve what should have been.
You are allowed to say “That hurt me.”
You are allowed to heal.

Whether you're in Reston, Fairfax, Vienna, or anywhere in the DMV area, I’d be honored to walk this healing journey with you.

Next Steps: Begin Healing from Birth Trauma

Schedule a free consultation to talk about what you’ve been through
Choose a therapy format that works best for your needs—virtual or in-person
Start processing your birth story in a safe, compassionate space
Feel more grounded, more present, and more like yourself again

You don’t have to carry this alone.

Other Services Offered with Kate Regnier, LCSW and EMDR Trauma Therapist

Are you a woman navigating the devastating aftermath of miscarriage, stillbirth, or a traumatic birth? Kate Regnier, LCSW and EMDR Therapist, specializes in helping women process perinatal loss, birth trauma, and postpartum PTSD. Through EMDR therapy, Kate supports you in easing the intensity of flashbacks, guilt, and anxiety—so you can begin to feel more grounded, safe, and connected again.

Kate offers EMDR therapy for women in Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., Indiana, and Michigan, and works with those experiencing pregnancy loss grief, PTSD from labor, and postpartum trauma.

To learn more about working with Kate, visit the Meet Kate page or explore helpful insights on the blog.