Welcome to Ending Birth Trauma
“When I was wearing my work uniform and work badge, what I said mattered. My words carried weight and I had the power to make things happen. But the moment I was the birthing woman in a hospital bed, wearing a patient gown instead of my work uniform—suddenly I was simply a bed number and nothing I said mattered or carried any weight.”
Scars of Gold – a midwife’s personal experience of birth trauma
Get the book on pre-release discount at www.sharonstoliar.com
Hello! I’m Sharon and welcome to the Ending Birth Trauma website.
I began my journey to motherhood in 2011 with my own traumatic birth experience. Within hours of giving birth to my son via an emergency caesarean section, I developed an acute compartment syndrome in my right lower leg which remained undiagnosed for ten days because maternity care staff didn’t take me seriously or listen to my complaints of agonising pain.
To cut a long story short, the physical consequences of the delayed diagnosis left me with permanent nerve and muscular damage which prevented me from looking after my son. I lost my career in clinical nursing and midwifery because of the deficits in my mobility. I lost my marriage. And I lost my independence.
It has taken a lot of hard work and effort to rebuild my life again. I went on to complete two master’s degrees and I am currently enrolled in a PhD exploring the personal experiences of pregnancy and childbirth in women who are midwives.
Having been diagnosed and treated for chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I am well acquainted with the devastating impact that birth trauma can have on a woman’s life.
Along the years, friends and colleagues and random strangers have reached out to me to share their own birth trauma stories. It is time to put an end to this silent epidemic and the first step is to raise awareness of just how bad this problem is. That is why I decided to make this website.
One day when it’s time for my children to become parents, I hope that birth trauma would have become a thing of the past.
Please join me in raising awareness by sharing this website with your friends who might have experienced or witnessed birth trauma and/or disrespectful maternity care.