Pregnancy, Birth and Parenthood after Childhood Sexual Abuse

	Beginner
	Approximately 1-2 hours to complete
	100% online
	Self-paced
	English

About the resource:

Childhood sexual abuse affects approximately 20% of women but is hidden in society and shrouded in silence. Few women disclose childhood sexual abuse to healthcare professionals but the potential for trauma in encounters with them is well documented. The study confirmed silence and demonstrated that many aspects of maternity care were reminiscent of abuse. However, childbirth can be healing for women who experienced sensitive care. There is no direct intervention to support these women: they are often unidentifiable. What they need depends on the individual woman, may change from day to day and is context-specific. Healthcare professionals may feel ill-equipped to deal effectively with disclosures of childhood sexual abuse and educational resources are lacking.

This project created an opportunity to ‘voice the silence’ through cultural media, address this deficit and influences the social impact of childhood sexual abuse.

This resulting resource will help women who have experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA) to prepare for pregnancy, birth and parenthood.

The effects of CSA can last a long time and having a baby can be a particularly difficult and lonely time. The resource shares real-life experiences of pregnancy, birth and parenthood and has been created through the collaboration of women who have experienced CSA, midwives and researchers.

The resource includes:

Sections on pregnancy, labour and becoming a parent
Links to further resources and sources of information
Women’s experiences brought to life through film and animation
Interactive content

Choose how and where you work through the resource.

This project is a collaboration between the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery at King's College London and J Motion, brokered by the Cultural Institute King's. The development of this resource was funded by a Wellcome Trust Engaging Science People Award.

The resource was co-produced by the following:

	Women with lived experience of childhood sexual abuse
	Dr Elsa Montgomery Principal Investigator; Senior Lecturer \| King's College London Dr Elsa Montgomery's overall aim is to ensure that women, babies and their families receive excellent care during their encounters with maternity services through pregnancy, birth and beyond. She believes this can be achieved through both education and research. In education, she works to equip students with the skills to be the best safe, compassionate practitioners they can be; able to deliver evidence-based care and respond to the needs of individual women. In research, this means listening to women, learning their priorities and understanding what the important unanswered questions are.
	Yan-Shing Chang Lecturer in Child and Family Health \| King's College London Yan-Shing's current research focuses on maternal, child and family health and well being, taking a life course approach, in the global health context. She works with international collaborators including those from low and middle income countries. She has conducted several systematic reviews and primary research on infant feeding, and interventions to support families and women with complex medical and social needs. Her expertise includes co-design participatory research, cross-cultural comparative studies, as well as intervention and service evaluation.
	Fay Maxted OBE Chief Executive Officer \| The Survivors Trust
	Sarah Cheadle Communications Officer \| The Survivors Trust
	From other areas: Kathryn Gutteridge, President, Royal College of Midwives; Lucy Duckworth, researcher and member of the Victims and Survivors' Consultative Panel for the Independent Inquiry into Childhood Sexual Abuse; Julia Seng, Professor of Nursing, Obstetrics and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan, USA; Jonathan Staples
	Jmotion Video Production Company J Motion is a video production company who provide a dynamic fusion of experienced broadcast-industry professionals with a background in journalism and programme-making. They are a talented team who employ state-of-the-art hardware and software and digital marketing experts to unlock their clients’ vision. The company’s founder Jonathan Staples and post-production manager James Grundy worked with Elsa on this project.