How Craniosacral Therapy Helped Me Heal from a Traumatic Birth

Craniosacral Therapy can play a gentle yet transformative role in the healing journey for both parent and baby

I'm honored to share a special guest blog post featuring Sarah, from Rooted in Love Babywearing, a parent who vulnerably shares her personal story of healing after a traumatic birth. In this blog post series, Sarah reflects on how craniosacral therapy supported her recovery and helped her reconnect with her body and her baby. I’ll also be sharing insights into how CST works and why it can be such a powerful support for both birth parents and infants in Healing After Birth: How Craniosacral Therapy Supports Parents and Their Babies. I'm grateful to share her story and to offer it as a resource for families navigating postpartum healing.

Bringing a baby into the world is a

Birth trauma can linger in the body and the nervous system long after the birth. Photo credit: DC Birth Photographer

profound experience, but for many parents, birth doesn’t go as planned. Whether it involved long labor, unplanned interventions, emergency surgery, or emotional overwhelm, birth trauma can linger in the body and the nervous system long after the birth. These experiences often leave imprints on the nervous system, manifesting as anxiety, overwhelm, difficulty bonding, chronic tension, or even persistent pain.

That’s where Craniosacral Therapy (CST) can play a gentle yet transformative role in the healing journey for both parent and baby.

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The Birth That Broke Me

Following an unplanned cesarean where I was abandoned and betrayed by those I trusted including my husband, doula, nurse, and OB, I was left broken in my body, mind, and spirit.

But how could I focus on my healing when I was responsible for a tiny baby?

I was drowning in postpartum:

• Struggling to breastfeed

• A baby readmitted at one week old with jaundice

• A baby who refused to be put down, sleeping in 20-minute stretches at night

• Being told, “At least your baby is alive. The cesarean must have been necessary.”

I labored for 18 hours, unmedicated, with an OP baby, and underwent major surgery. At two weeks postpartum, I was diagnosed with PPD and told to “just get on meds.” But I wasn't sick, I was abandoned and betrayed and navigating the biggest transformation of my life without real support.

At my six-week checkup, when I asked why the cesarean happened, my OB said, “Babies get stuck. At least your vagina is intact. And remember your husband in all of this.”

Feeding, Sleeplessness, and Isolation

"I was left broken in my body, mind, and spirit."

But how could I focus on my healing when I was responsible for a tiny baby?

Triple feeding turned into exclusive pumping for eight exhausting weeks. Finally, at four months, my baby latched for our first successful feed at the breast without a nipple shield. It felt like a miracle but it now meant nursing every 90 minutes (or less) around the clock just to keep my supply. 

Pumping was no longer an option, I was lucky if I got half an ounce total after 30 minutes. It wasn't until 10 months postpartum with the help of my third IBCLC, the only one who listened that I was able to pump enough for a bottle.

Sleep? Nonexistent. My baby couldn’t be put down at all and at night, even though we started bedsharing, I was up every 90 minutes or less and my broken sleep was filled with flashbacks from my birth or knowing I was going to be up very soon to nurse. I was numb, exhausted, trying to survive while aching for an exit.

I started telehealth therapy at 8 weeks postpartum, but I didn’t feel safe or heard. Everyone said “You’re both healthy and that’s what matters.” So I nodded. But inside, I was slowly collapsing.

Discovering CST 

By 13 months postpartum, I was desperate for change, for hope, for something.

My son had received several chiropractic adjustments in his early months, but I knew he was still carrying tension from birth. He was OP and I’d pushed for 6.5 hours before the cesarean. He slept with his mouth open. He was strong, but to me his strength was tension. He was mirroring my nervous system which was overwhelmed and overstretched.

I discovered CST: Craniosacral Therapy from someone on Instagram. I was skeptical, guarded, and curious but my son and I needed relief. Before my son could get CST, I needed to understand it and try it first.

That’s when I found Syvana with A Touch of Balance in Wisconson. After hearing her explain CST and her warmth on the phone, my guard was let down enough to book an appointment and try. 

My First Session 

Feeling grounded for the first time after feeling hands on the feet at the start of the CST session

I was shut down and I didn’t want to be touched by anyone. But I was desperate for something to shift. 

Syvana’s presence was grounding. At the start of my session, she placed her hands on my feet, then my hips. In the stillness, my body started to sigh and the tears started rolling down my cheeks. I hadn’t realized the true depth and heaviness of my birth until something in me started to let go while Syvana applied a very light and gentle pressure on my body. I soon drifted off and don’t remember much except when the session ended, something had shifted and started to let go. For the first time in over a year, I felt lighter. I felt seen.

I scheduled more appointments for me and eventually my son. After every appointment, I gained a piece of me back.

What Changed with CST 

My sleep slowly deepened and although still very broken it was more restful. The panic attacks and the flashbacks began to fade into the background. My nervous system started to soften and I began to trust myself again and honor my story.

Emotions of grief and rage started to move through me without overtaking me every time or burying them.

I began to sit with my birth story and not run from it.

My baby also began to change too. The mother-baby dyad is real. When I softened, so did he.

After that first session, I felt safe letting Syvana work with him directly. And his tension and pain started releasing in his way and he was closing his mouth more, especially when sleeping.

"The mother-baby dyad is real. When I softened, so did he."- Sarah

Why This Matters 

Birth trauma is real. It doesn’t need a dramatic headline to be valid.

You can have a “healthy baby” and still feel broken.  You can look okay and still feel like you’re disappearing.

CST didn’t “fix” me overnight. Instead it met me on the verge of complete collapse and helped me begin to heal what I couldn’t put the right words to or truly feel. CST reminded me I wasn’t broken forever and that while our bodies keep score, with the right tools, our bodies and spirit will heal. If You’re in It Right Now… If you’re numbing out on your phone scrolling... If your baby never lets you put them down... If you’re staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m. wondering if it ever gets better…

I see you.  I was you. For me, CST was the lifeline I needed to truly start healing our birth story.

Hi, I’m Sarah

I’m a certified babywearing consultant and mom of one. My journey into motherhood began with an unplanned cesarean and a baby who needed to be on my body all day and night. Babywearing became my lifeline, it was a way to care for my baby while healing and learning to care for myself at the same time.

I believe wearing your baby is one of the most ancient, loving acts we can offer to ourselves and our babies. It’s a way to honor the wisdom of our bodies, soothe our babies, and help feel more connected. I am passionate about meeting parents where they are and helping them feel empowered, connected, and supported in the messy, magical reality of early parenthood and beyond.  With both personal experience and professional training, I help families find comfort, confidence, and deeper connection through babywearing.