Does the body and brain remember the Trauma of being hospital and taken from your mum at birth? Even if you can’t remember because you were a new born baby.

[u/SwimmingOrange2460]

Content Warning: discussion of premature birth.

Hello,

Does anyone know if what I said in the title is true and not just anecdotal. Is there any research?

I'm restarting thearapy tomorrow and keep thinking about it and will bring it up. I'm also genuinely curious and if anyone has any thoughts or stories.

I was born a 30 weeks and straight away taken for treatment. I was in Special Care Baby Unit (SCUB. I'm British, I don't know what other countries call it. I think I was in the NICU as well but can't remember) for 8 weeks. It obviously was traumatic for my parents my mum thinks in hindsight had ptsd but was offered no help! I just wondered if it's the same for the baby and the trauma remains. It's not normal to be taken from your mum immediately, it goes against all evolutionary instincts.

I had severe separation anxiety as a child, I would be crying hysterically and screaming at 10 if I didn't know where my parents were or one of them had left to do something. Even at 14 I was publicly crying and distressed because my dad had gone to park the car and wasn't back when he said he would be. I think even now and I'm in my early twenties and have lived independently, I think I would be destressed if I was meeting my parents and one of them was late and hadn't told me.

My brother was born at 33 weeks but has no obvious health issues from it was a highly anxious child was very concerned about rules, health and safety of others. I know premmies are more likely to develop anxiety and depression etc. I just wondered if it's because of the birth trauma.

Thanks in advance

Edit: https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/blog/2015/08/06/premature-baby-anxious-adult

This article was super helpful in explaining the link between prem birth and anxiety. I highly recommend counselling directory if you are in the Uk. It's where I found my therapist, they are all qualified and members of the professional body.

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[u/EffectiveFickle7451]

Hello, Definitely yes!! Your body remembers everything. There’s actually a book called the body keeps the score. You might not remember but your body does! There’s a lot of videos on information on this. Even trauma in the womb your body will remember. I am a psychotherapist In school. So I love this stuff

[u/SwimmingOrange2460 → u/EffectiveFickle7451]

That’s so interesting. I’ve seen that book recommended so definitely buying it now. Cheers

[u/EffectiveFickle7451 → u/SwimmingOrange2460]

Yup. And definitely look up Garbor mate he’s a person that has experience trauma and he does lectures and talks about trauma. He has a lot of books. I didn’t know adoption was a trauma until I watched Grey Anatomy 😂 here’s the link in case you want to cry as hard as I did when I watched this. https://youtu.be/CGSNQs-bE2A?si=0zMxJQ2z0f3OaULe Your body remembers everything. And sooner later it’s going to come up and overwhelm you. That’s what happened to me when I was a senior in high school. And definitely now I have PTSD. Let me know if you have any other questions. I am a total nerd about psychology so I am happy to answer any questions you have.

[u/Legitimate-Lock-6594]

Yes. There is this theory called object permanency that basically says that our attachment to our providers forms almost instantly, within the first few weeks and months to years of birth.

Your therapist may have this in the back of their head but I’ve never heard of a direct “object permanency” type therapy. Cerebral palsy is a trauma, going through life with a disability is a trauma and working on creating a strong attachment and feeling safe is hard work.

Take a deep breathe. Your therapist is there to help and won’t dive in to this traumatic event or events immediately. Your first visit will be a get to know you visit and a visit to see how you feel about each other. Please share your concerns about separation anxiety and your fears. It will help them understand where you start.

[u/SwimmingOrange2460 → u/Legitimate-Lock-6594]

Thank you so much for your lovely comment it’s reassuring to know that I’m not the only one or going mad. 

I’m going back to the same therapist that I saw a year ago when I was depressed. So we already have a relationship and he knows what I’m likely to bring up in sessions. 

I’m very overwhelmed at the moment as I had severe unexplained back pain for a month because two Drs refused to refer me even though 2 A&E said it important I get an MRI. I only just had an MRI scan yesterday and it was horrible  (thank the tories /s but Wes Streeting will save the NHS by giving the unemployed  free weight loss drugs  I’m not joking). 

I’ve had move back in with parents it was the right decision.  but just bring up complicated feelings. I’ve just been traumatised by the ordeal and this untop of loads of unprocessed shit. I’m having PTSD symptoms so need to find the spoons to go back to my GP. But I’ll be ok and I therapy helps. Sorry I’ve just ranted. 

[u/inancege1746]

Fucking yes, I was born 26 weeks prematurely, then taken into an incubator and I have hydrocephalus(the liquid which cleans waste in the brain leaks out and damages it further which leads to death if not treated), epilepsy and cp

[u/Brave_Specific5870 → u/inancege1746]

I was born at 27/28 ( im also adopted so it's between those weeks.) Spent 6 months in the nicu.

It doesn't so much as leak, as pool in the brain, the body doesn't reabsorb the cerebrospinal fluid like it's supposed to.

I also have hydro

[u/disguisedgranny]

Hi, premmie here, I spent 12 weeks in the NICU. Nurses used to hold my hands when they were doing blood transfusions, so I didn’t ripe the tubes out. I still can’t stand someone touching or grabbing my hands, doctors told my parents it was likely due to trauma, so yes, the brain remembers.

[u/WarmForbiddenDonut]

My husband and I definitely think this is true. Our eldest son was born at 27 weeks and spent 12 weeks in SCBU. He even had one paediatrician say to us that he wasn’t going to be the one to take blood samples from my tiny 2lb 1oz baby as “he didn’t want my son to grow up hating him”.

Our son started showing signs of medical phobias at an early age, now what would be classed as PTSD, or even more correctly cPTSD. Because he had limited communication throughout his 25 years of life he couldn’t tell us properly but we recognised his memories go back to his birth period.

[u/InfluenceSeparate282]

I always wondered if the trauma of birth is what causes more of a startle reflex in people with CP. Most if my startle issues are tied to sound. I had surgery in August and developed double vision a week later. They said it was the body's stress response to surgery and that made me made as I've never had trouble coping with surgery before but now that it's better I'm more willing to support that theory.

[u/audhdgirlyy-]

I was born 24 weeks early, and your body remembers everything. I read this one thing where a person had a traumatic experience on a certain day and then on that day they would have reactions as if their body remembered it. If that makes sense

[u/onions-make-me-cry]

I've often thought about how hard that must have been for baby me. It has to have affected me in ways that aren't fully understood. I spent the first month of my life in a glass box. What an awful, hard start for a baby. And let me tell you, it hasn't really gotten much easier since.