Supporting Women Survivors of Abuse involves listening to their stories, their feelings and their needs. This website is a response to having heard the need for more resources, information and specialized support for women survivors of abuse as they navigate their way through the potential triggers of the childbearing year.

Many survivors do not realize that abuse can have a unique impact on them in pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Regretfully this information usually comes to women after the fact... usually after their memories are triggered and they are left feeling confused and scared as they embark on their motherhood journey. The body remembers what the mind tries to suppress... becoming a mother is a time when these "stored" memories can surface. Although it is a challenge, it is also an opportunity for a woman to listen to what her body is revealing and move toward resolution.

Women survivors of abuse need to know that they are not alone and that help is available on that journey. We provide Birth Counselling services to offer not only a listening ear in a confidential and caring environment but also the tools and planning needed to alleviate fear and anxiety and cope with the emotional impact and triggering physical events of the upcoming labour and childbirth.

Although our own in-person Birth Counselling services are available only in the London, Ontario area, we offer training for professionals practicing here and elsewhere — care-providers such as doulas, midwives, nurses and other practitioners caring for women in the childbearing year — so that they, too, can provide specialized support to survivors of abuse. A Safe Passage advanced practitioner training and certification is available throughout Canada and the U.S. through workshops and distance education.

Survivors of abuse can be a listening ear to each other as well. One of the resources we have created is A Safe Passage online support group. Through it, we hope survivors will share services and information to support one another in their own unique journey to healing and to grow in confidence as a mother who has survived.

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The Birth Counselling we offer and the services available through those we have trained in A Safe Passage advanced practitioner training, are about more than listening: they are about informing as well. With honest, evidence-based information about options and interventions, women can learn ways to work with their triggers in a safe and supportive environment.

As far as we know, there had, until now, been nothing at all on the web for pregnant survivors who are looking for information about how their abuse histories may impact them in the childbearing year. We want women to have this information so they understand that they are not alone, not responsible for the abuse and that help is available.

Pregnant women currently in abusive relationships need to know this as well. They, too, will find here the information and resources they need to put their situation in context and access support, as will women whose experience of pregnancy is being negatively impacted by trauma from a previous pregnancy.

Information has also been sparse for professionals caring for pregnant women who are survivors of abuse or in abusive relationships during their pregnancy. As practitioners researching and developing services in response to the needs of our clients, we found no site on the internet that brings together research and resources for professionals in this situation. It is our hope that the Safe Passage web site will fill the gap in providing the information needed by professionals wanting to understand, appreciate and adequately meet the needs of childbearing women in their care who are experiencing the trauma of past or ongoing abuse.

The information on this web site extends as well to family and friends of women in the childbearing year. What is happening to your partner/ sister/ mother/ daughter /relative/ in-law/ friend? What is she going through and how can you help? You will find some answers on the page for Family and Friends.

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While the childbearing year can be a challenge for survivors of abuse, it is also an opportunity in that it can act as a catalyst for awareness, insight and processing, and taking steps on the road to healing. By the very fact of surviving abuse and reaching out for assistance, survivors begin the process of breaking free from the shame and isolation that abuse creates. This in itself is one of the most important steps they can take.

Through the information and resources available on this website, and through Birth Counselling services and the training of practitioners in A Safe Passage, we hope to create an environment where women can seek their own empowerment and take further steps to embark on a journey of self-care that will not only see them through the childbearing year but will carry them beyond, towards a life full of positive possibilities.

~ Jodi ~

 

Please Note

This site discusses in general terms information about a full range of experiences, behaviours and expressions of childhood sexual abuse and woman abuse and potential impacts on women in the childbearing year.

While some women who have survived abuse will exhibit many of the behaviours discussed, others may not exhibit any obvious signs of the abuse they have endured.

It is also important to remember that some childbearing women who have no known abuse histories may also express extreme fear, anxiety, distrust in their caregiver, and display other signs described in association with survival of abuse. There are many other possible reasons why a woman may be experiencing these feelings and exhibiting these behaviours — it is wise not to jump to conclusions about the cause.

While every attempt has been made in the production of the site to provide the most current relevant research and information, the scope of the site is limited to information only and cannot replace in-person counselling.

If you are experiencing emotional difficulties, please seek professional help.

Care providers

The terms 'care-provider' and 'caregiver' are used throughout this site to refer to any professional who may provide services to women in the childbearing year, or be in a position of authority or power in relation to them. This may include massage therapists, homeopaths, dieticians, nurses, doctors, chiropractors, midwives, doulas, counselors, therapists, lactation consultants, various case workers (housing, welfare, mental health, social workers), etc. Suggestions should be taken and applied according to their relevance within each profession's scope of practice and guiding principles.