Stranger in the Birthroom: Maternity Care for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

Published May 2025

Trauma-informed maternity care is essential for women who are survivors of childhood abuse. Pregnancy and birth can bring up long-suppressed memories and feelings that have implications for women’s health and wellbeing as they become mothers. Welcoming a new baby into the family can challenge relationships and distort emotions following birth, affecting partners and bonding with their baby.

Kathryn Gutteridge has spent her career as a midwife advocating for the needs of survivor women in maternity care, and this book is the result of that work. She explains how and why the needs of survivors must be taken into account, and shows that trauma-informed care can transform the experiences of women who might otherwise be further traumatised by the maternity care system.

Drawing on the evidence base, personal experience, and the words of survivors themselves, this carefully conceived and written book will help all those who work in maternity to better understand the needs of survivors of childhood abuse in their care. For those clinicians who are themselves survivors, this book acknowledges the challenges they face and makes suggestions about how they might find solace in supporting women and their babies.