Weʼre raising £4,400 to help fund 24 places as part of Gloucestershire Traumatic Birth Recovery Network to have Rewind Technique Training for Birth related PTSD. I am hoping to raise at least £500 of this by asking for sponsors of my Stroud Half Marathon run in October.

Most births are a memory to treasure and are special for all involved, however hard they may have felt at the time. Some births, sadly, are traumatic for those involved and the woman and possibly partner too, can be left wanting to blot it all out or even suffer flashbacks of such events. PTSD is a more common occurance than we would like to believe. These traumas need to be identified and dealt with following the birth to allow that couple to relax and enjoy life with their new family. These cases can often lead to huge anxieties with any future pregnancies if not addressed and can make the whole experience much harder for the couple.

As a woman, parent and professional, I would love to offer a better educated support to these women and families. PTSD has a huge spectrum and can affect everyone differently. As midwives we do not currently have any counselling training but as front line professionals this would greatly enhance our service and our ability to support a woman and her family through pregnancy after a difficult experience.

Jane Allen is an awesome lady who is spearheading this movement and having already trained, is seeing the difference it can make, first hand. She is helping fundraise so we can get as many professionals trained as possible And has already done a run herself! I am hoping I can help make a difference to our target by asking you to sponsor my Stroud Half Marathon Run in October. One difficult day for me will hopefully help improve hard times for others.

Thankyou for reading

Kirsty xxx