EMDR and Perinatal Mental Health: A Powerful Path to Healing

By Jen Kost, MSW, LCSW, PMH-C

The transition to parenthood is profound and life-changing—but it can also bring unexpected emotional challenges. If you’ve experienced infertility, pregnancy loss, birth trauma, or distressing postpartum experiences, you’re not alone. While talk therapy can be incredibly helpful, some emotional and physical wounds linger, keeping you stuck in patterns of distress.

This is where Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can make a difference.

What is EMDR?

EMDR is a highly effective, evidence-based therapy that helps people heal from trauma, anxiety, and distressing experiences. Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, tapping, or sound) to help your brain reprocess difficult memories so they no longer feel overwhelming or triggering. Rather than just talking about the past, EMDR allows you to move through it in a way that reduces emotional pain and restores a sense of balance (Shapiro, 2018).

How Can EMDR Help During the Perinatal Period?

For those navigating pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood, EMDR can be particularly powerful in addressing:

✅ Medical and Birth Trauma – Whether you had a complicated pregnancy, an unexpected C-section, a NICU stay, or felt unheard during labor, birth-related PTSD is real—and treatable (Ayers et al., 2016).

✅ Pregnancy Loss & Infertility – EMDR can help you process grief, fear, and the emotional toll of reproductive challenges (Brodie & Smith, 2021).

✅ Childhood Trauma & Parenting Triggers – Becoming a parent can bring up painful memories or concerns about how you were parented. EMDR can help you navigate these feelings with greater clarity and confidence.

✅ Postpartum Anxiety & Intrusive Thoughts – If distressing thoughts are overwhelming you, EMDR can help reduce their intensity and emotional charge (Baas et al., 2020).

✅ Fear of Future Pregnancy or Childbirth – EMDR can even help you prepare for the future by working through fears of pregnancy, childbirth, or fertility treatments, so they don’t feel as daunting.

What Does EMDR Look Like?

EMDR follows a structured process that helps your brain "unstick" distressing memories so they no longer control your emotions and responses (van der Kolk, 2014).

One of the key goals is to shift negative self-beliefs to more adaptive, empowering ones. For example:

🔹 After an unplanned C-section, you might struggle with the belief, “I’m to blame.” (Even though that’s untrue, it’s how your system stored the experience.)

🔹 EMDR helps you reprocess the memory so you can hold a more compassionate, supportive belief, like:
✔️ “I did the best I could.”
✔️ “I trusted my medical team to care for me.”
✔️ “I am strong.”
✔️ “I made the best decisions for myself and my baby.”

Many clients begin to feel relief within a few sessions. For some, EMDR is a short-term intervention (4-6 sessions) focused on a specific trauma, while others choose to work on multiple experiences. 

You Deserve to Heal

If past experiences are making it hard to enjoy pregnancy, birth, or parenthood, you don’t have to struggle alone. EMDR offers a powerful, research-backed path to healing—helping you regain a sense of peace and control in your life.

References

Ayers, S., Bond, R., Bertullies, S., & Wijma, K. (2016). The aetiology of post-traumatic stress following childbirth: A meta-analysis and theoretical framework. Psychological Medicine, 46(6), 1121-1134.

Baas, M. A. M., Stramrood, C. A. I., Donders, A. R. T., van Pampus, M. G., & de Jongh, A. (2020). The effectiveness of EMDR in reducing pregnancy-related fear of childbirth and posttraumatic stress symptoms: A randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 891.

Beck, C. T., Watson, S., & Gable, R. K. (2019). Traumatic childbirth and its aftermath: Is there a role for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy? Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing, 33(3), 201-207.

Brodie, M., & Smith, H. (2021). Treating reproductive trauma with EMDR therapy: A case series. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 15(4), 289-300.

de Bruijn, M. A., van de Ven, P. M., van Baar, A. L., Pop, V. J., & van Pampus, M. G. (2022). The effectiveness of EMDR therapy in treating childbirth-related PTSD symptoms: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(4), 1097-1112.

Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures. Guilford Press.

van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.