Narrative Exposure Therapy for a Traumatic Birth Experience With the Non-Birthing Parent: A Single Case Study

Abstract

Traumatic birth experiences are common and can be extremely damaging to an individual’s health and well-being. Perinatal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common complication following a traumatic birth experience. While emerging literature has focused on interventions to reduce maternal PTSD, there is virtually no clinical information on interventions targeting perinatal PTSD for the nonbirthing person following a traumatic birth experience. This case series is presented to demonstrate how Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) can be used to address the unique needs of a non-birthing person following a traumatic birth experience.

A patient sought treatment following witnessing his wife’s unexpected traumatic birth experience and subsequent placement of his daughter in the neonatal intensive care unit. Treatment was conducted at a specialty PTSD clinic through an urban academic medical center in the Midwestern United States. An advanced clinical psychology student conducted 10 sessions of NET under the supervision of a licensed clinical psychologist. NET treatment included psychoeducation, laying the lifeline (i.e., outlining significant events related to the birth experience), 6 imaginal exposures, a final reading of exposure transcripts, and a termination session. Patient-reported outcome measures were collected at baseline, week 8, and following treatment termination. The patient demonstrated a substantial reduction in PTSD, depressive, and dissociation symptoms and reported subjective improvement with NET. At termination, the patient no longer met criteria for PTSD. This case study provides guidance for a valuable treatment option for a nonbirthing partner’s PTSD following childbirth and highlights future directions for parental PTSD treatment.