For Neurodivergent Mums, Birth Trauma Can Start Long Before Labour

"Trauma does not always look dramatic from the outside..."

For some neurodivergent women, birth trauma is not just about one terrifying moment in a delivery room.

It can begin during pregnancy, build through months of feeling unseen or unsupported, and follow women into the earliest days of motherhood.

As a midwife, I have supported many of these women through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood, and have seen first-hand how much additional pressure these experiences can place on those whose brains process the world differently.

Autism and ADHD do not disappear when someone becomes pregnant, yet maternity care still often assumes that every woman experiences these life-changing transitions in broadly the same way.

Pregnancy can bring unsettling changes

For some neurodivergent women, pregnancy can bring an overwhelming loss of certainty. Their body is changing, routines disappear, decisions come quickly and uncertainty becomes part of daily life.

Many have spent years developing........

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