kids therapy for bad sleeping and traumatic birth

[triv]

Hi all,
a nanny friend of mine was telling me that kids and parents can have therapy to discover if there is any link to early development problems such as bad sleep ( my bubba) and others due to a traumatic birth, prolonged labour etc.
We had a long labour resulting in forceps delivery and then real difficulty breast feeding resulting in a stay in hospital because of dramatic weight loss. I carry a lot anxiety about those early months and I wonder if my daughter does too....How do I find out? Should I find out or just accept these experiences as our story? Any advice or knowledge out there?

Firstly, I would recommend you speak to a counsellor who speicalises in birth trauma and then perhaps take your dd to a cranial osteopath to check her ligaments are properly aligned. For her, I wouldn't have thought she'd be mentally affected by the traumatic birth but being pulled and pushed and long labour etc, might have effected her ability to feed/sleep well etc.

I have worries too and feel guilty about ds's birth and wonder if it has affected him and contributed to the way he is, especially in the early days.
I was induced at 42 weeks and after a couple of days he was born with forceps after a failed ventouse (which snapped). He was quite big (9lbs7) and back to back. He was only comfortable facing to his right when lying down and has never liked to be put down.
He was quite battered (as was I) and 3 days later they realised I needed a blood transfusion. I am hoping to have dc2 next year (have to start to ttc first tho haha!) but I think I will need to talk to someone about ds's birth.
I have only recently - the last 8 weeks - stopped beating myself up about the birth. He will be 19mo next week.
I hope you find some support and some answers! How old is your daughter? I have co-slept with my ds since he was 4 months old - it really worked for us.
All the best
Ps I would have taken ds to a CO but I didn't know about them then.

The fact stottie, that your ds couldn't lie on his back could indicate that his back ligaments weren't alligned correctly.
There are lots of threads about cranial osteopathy and whilst some people are sceptical, many others, including myself, swore by it. DS couldn't sleep on his back at all. His little pelvis and back weren't alligned properly and he was ventouse so his skull needed some osteopathy too. It worked a treat although I still beleive that could be why he has speech probs now, due to his jaw being 'tight'.
For your birth trauma, please buy/get your full labour notes from the hospital and book an appointment with a midwide to go through them with you and discuss everything that happened. It will make it so much easy to get over a traumatic birth if you know exactly why things were done.
Certainly shottie, this will help before your next birth and cut down on birth fear.

I second the C.O. advice, have friends for whom it has worked miracles. Will take my baby for treatment as soon as possible.

www.eastneuktherapies.co.uk/pages/craniosacral-therapy-for-babies-and-children.php

lucie Sorry I should have said that he faced to the right when laying down on his back. Your poor little boy - I'm so glad that the treatment worked well.
I had ds at Whipps in London and am now in Yorkshire so would need to write or email Whipps - but I am keen to get my notes. I feel that my labour was done to me rather than me giving birth and a lot was out of my control.
Thanks for your advice I will get organised and get in touch with Whipps!
Sorry for the hijack op x

oh - gosh - that is a really good way to describe it - "done to me". That's exactly how I felt after having ECS with DD1.
Now we're going to give you da da da di da, then we'll wait for ....minutes/hours and then you can have bla bla bla...etc.
I just laid there and listened!

Hope you get what you need to move on

Have emailed Whipps Cross - finally! Thanks Lucie

All your comments are really interesting. Stottie your birth sounds very difficult and I wish you luck in your second birth and healing the first. I took my dd for CO after our labour and I think it did help her to feed better. The centre for paedriatric osteopathy in clerkenwell is a wonderful sanctuary and is a reg. charity so you pay what you can afford.
I will try and take her again and hope she lets them touch her head as shea was a bit suspicious from 18 months.
Thanks for the link and if any one knows any counsellors specializing in birth trauma their details would be invaluable.