The study led by psychologist Professor Debra Creedy from the University of Queensland,:Midwives' counseling helps traumatized new mothers

 About a third of Australian girls are traumatized by childbirth and midwives' counseling can ease their distress, a study by Australian researchers revealed on Monday.

The study led by psychologist Professor Debra Creedy from the University of Queensland, surveyed 1,038 pregnant Australian ladies with no prior history of mental illness.

The study revealed that about 30 percent females described childbirth as "horrific" or "terrifying" after they gave birth.

"They feared for their life or that of their baby," stated Creedy, who's been studying maternity health for over 15 years.

Untreated trauma could result in anxiety or postnatal depression, causing reactions like excessive concern for their kids or fear of giving birth once more, according to the study.

"Unless these sorts of emotions are dealt with in a productive way they can have lasting effects on girls," Creedy stated.

The study was presented at The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Congress in Darwin on Monday.

Creedy as well as a team of researchers from the University of Queensland trained a team of midwives in counseling skills.

They randomly selected a few of the traumatized mums to undergo counseling inside 72 hours of birth and four to six weeks later.

The other traumatized women received parent support services - practical assistance covering things like settling the baby and breast feeding - and had been monitored in case their condition developed into some thing much more significant.

"Both groups improved six weeks right after giving birth but inside the longer term those females who received parenting support did much worse." Creedy told Australian Associated Press (AAP).

At 12 months following giving birth, almost 20 percent of the supported group reported moderate to severe depression.

But only eight percent of women counseled by midwives were still struggling with mental illness.

"We found midwives are very nicely placed to support the emotional wants of girls simply because they understand childbirth," she stated.

"They can talk with the woman about what happened and why that procedure might have been required and to normalize a woman's responses."

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