Rebuilding Trust: Listening to Your Intuition After Birth Trauma

There’s something no one tells you about birth trauma.

It doesn’t just shake your body.
It shakes your trust in yourself.

Maybe you had a feeling before the induction.
Maybe you sensed something wasn’t right.
Maybe you ignored your inner voice because fear felt louder.
Maybe everything moved too fast, and you didn’t get to choose.

After trauma, many mothers don’t just grieve the birth — they question their intuition.

“Why didn’t I know?”
“Why didn’t I stop it?”
“Why didn’t I advocate more?”

If you’ve asked yourself these questions, pause here with me.

Your intuition did not fail you.
Your nervous system was overwhelmed.

There is a difference.

Trauma Disconnects Us From Our Inner Voice

When we experience trauma, especially in medical settings where control is taken away, the body moves into survival mode.

In survival mode:

• We comply.

• We freeze.

• We focus on immediate safety.

• We prioritize the baby.

• We override ourselves.

This isn’t a weakness.

It’s biology.

When your system is flooded with stress hormones, your higher reasoning and intuitive clarity can become harder to access. You weren’t disconnected because you’re incapable. You were protecting your baby.

Afterward, when things slow down, the questions come.

And with them, self-doubt.

Why Self-Trust Feels Fragile After a Traumatic Birth

Birth is one of the most vulnerable experiences of a woman’s life.

If you felt:

• Dismissed

• Rushed

• Pressured

• Out of control

• Ignored

• Unheard

It can create a deep rupture in self-trust.

Even if the outcome was ultimately safe.

Even if everyone says, “But your baby is healthy.”

Two things can be true:
Your baby is healthy.
And your experience was traumatic.

When your intuition was overridden by fear, statistics, authority, or urgency, it can feel like you betrayed yourself.

But here’s the truth:

You made the best decisions you could with the information and nervous system capacity you had at the time.

That is not failure.
That is motherhood in survival mode.

Intuition vs. Anxiety After Trauma

After birth trauma, it can be hard to tell the difference between intuition and anxiety.

They feel different in the body.

Intuition feels:

• Calm

• Grounded

• Clear

• Steady

• Quiet but firm

Anxiety feels:

• Urgent

• Loud

• Racing

• Tight in the chest

• Catastrophic

Trauma amplifies anxiety.
Healing helps intuition return.

If you feel like your intuition has disappeared, it hasn’t. It’s just buried under protective noise.

How to Rebuild Trust in Yourself

Self-trust is not something you “decide” to have.

It’s something your nervous system feels.

Here are gentle ways to begin rebuilding:

🌿 1. Start Small

Make tiny decisions daily and honor them.

• What do I actually want for lunch?

• Do I need rest or movement?

• Do I want quiet or connection?

Each time you honor a small preference, you tell your body:
“My voice matters.”

🌿 2. Regulate First, Decide Second

If you’re dysregulated, you’re not in intuitive clarity.

Before making big parenting or life decisions:

• Take 5 slow breaths.

• Step outside.

• Put your hand on your heart.

Clarity follows safety.

🌿 3. Journal Without Judgment

Write:
“What did I feel during my birth that I ignored?”
“What do I wish I had said?”
“What do I need now?”

This is not to shame yourself.

It’s to witness yourself.

Witnessing heals rupture.

🌿 4. Work With the Body

Because trauma lives in the body, rebuilding trust is not purely mental.

Consider:

• Trauma-informed therapy (EMDR or somatic therapy)

• Gentle meditation

• Reiki

• Breathwork/Bodywork

• Grounding rituals

As your nervous system softens, your inner voice becomes easier to hear.

You Were Never Weak

Many women quietly carry guilt after birth trauma, and I know I did.

“I should have known.”
“I should have fought harder.”
“I should have trusted myself.”

But intuition is not loud during a crisis.

Survival is.

And survival is sacred.

Your body did exactly what it needed to do in that moment.

Now, healing is about gently coming home to yourself.

Intuition After Trauma Is Softer — But Stronger

What I’ve learned is this:

After trauma, intuition doesn’t come back as a dramatic knowing.

It comes back as a steady whisper.

It sounds like:
“I need support.”
“I don’t feel okay.”
“This feels aligned.”
“This doesn’t.”

The bravest act after birth trauma is not rewriting the past.

It’s listening to your body in the present.

If You’re Struggling With Self-Trust

If birth trauma left you feeling disconnected from yourself, you are not alone.

If you’re experiencing postpartum PTSD, anxiety, or depression, please reach out to:

• Postpartum Support International

• 988 Lifeline

And speak with your provider.

You deserve to feel safe in your own body again.

Coming Home to Yourself

Motherhood doesn’t begin with perfection.

It begins with courage.

Sometimes that courage looks like advocating in a hospital room.

Sometimes it looks like crying at a pediatric appointment.

And sometimes it looks like saying,
“I need help.”

Your intuition is not gone.

She is waiting for your nervous system to feel safe enough to listen again.

And she will.

🌀

Be Well,

Becky