Trauma Informed Care in the Perinatal Period

Pregnancy is a crucial point of intersection between generations. During pregnancy, women with a childhood maltreatment history have a 12-fold increased risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although awareness of the need for trauma-informed care and trauma-specific interventions is increasing in the fields of addiction and mental health treatment, there are no front-line programmes for the childbearing year that address maltreatment-related PTSD. The authors address these intergenerational cycles of childhood maltreatment and psychiatric vulnerability; they provide a resource to facilitate incorporating trauma-informed care and trauma-specific interventions into maternity services; and they signal the opportunities for improving outcomes for childbearing women with a history of childhood maltreatment. This volume provides an overview of information that child welfare and perinatal professionals can use in their work to move towards providing trauma informed care and developing trauma-specific interventions to improve intergenerational outcomes.