We all experience trauma at some point in our lives.  Whether it be physical or emotional, personal or shared, discrete or insidious, trauma plays a major role in shaping how we perceive and respond to the world around us.  

 

For some, it can be a transient, brutal event that alters their way of life.  For others, it may be more insidious, manifesting itself as the product of generational violence and oppression.  

Ultimately, trauma is cumulative.  

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It is the culmination of experiences, personal and shared, that can create distrust, biases, and barriers between individuals and populations.  From the social inequities laid bare by the Covid-19 pandemic, to our collective reckoning with racism in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, to the misogynistic dangers of post-Roe America, if the last few years have taught the medical community anything, it's that we must move beyond simply acknowledging trauma exists in the lives of our patients and begin actively responding to trauma as part of our care.

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This is why we chose “Towards Trauma-Responsive Perinatal Care” as the theme for NPA’s 2024 Annual Conference.  

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By leveraging NPA’s experience as a multidisciplinary organization consistently poised at the forefront perinatal issues, we aim to help perinatal providers evolve beyond trauma-informed care and create a more proactive, cross-disciplinary, and responsive model of care to benefit patients, their families, and the communities they live in.  

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From providers at the bedside of laboring patients and fragile newborns, to those within the clinics and communities trying to provide equitable access and safe spaces for patients and families, trauma-responsive care acknowledges patient agency and respects bodily autonomy in the context of their lived experiences.  

 

It gives patients an identity beyond their demographics and risk factors while empowering providers to address social injustices, economic inequities, and political barriers that historically have limited their abilities to treat marginalized or vulnerable populations.  

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There has never been a more important time than the present for providers to begin utilizing trauma-responsive care.  

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We hope you will join us and be part of this vital evolution.