Beyond the birth: validating women’s experiences through postpartum debriefing

[Extract] The study by Bannister et al found that women value debriefing following birth; they want to be listened to, heard and acknowledged for the emotions they experienced during childbirth. While the majority of responses in this study referred to debriefing as a helpful approach to process the birth experience, there were also comments suggesting that debriefing was not positive, particularly when women had experienced a traumatic birth. In some cases, debriefing focused on having a healthy baby rather than providing an opportunity for women to process their experience of a traumatic birth.