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What sorts of useful information might perinatal context afford? How might we start to explore this sensitively with a young person’s parents or caregivers? In the second of two blog posts about the importance of including perinatal history in assessment, Florence Nadaud, child and adolescent psychodynamic psychotherapist, urges us not to skip the opening chapters of our clients’ lives.

Enquiring as far back as pregnancy and birth can reveal the best path forward for therapy, regardless of our clients’ age. In some cases, clinical formulation can even hinge on it. In the first of two blog posts on taking perinatal histories, Florence Nadaud, child and adolescent psychodynamic psychotherapist, shares her work with one young person whose traumatic birth story shed new light on his current difficulties – and, just as crucially, helped her to reflect on parental and professional attitudes towards his presentation.

Unresolved birth trauma can lead to clients presenting with depression, anxiety and attachment issues – years, and even generations, after the event. As we mark Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week and World Maternal Mental Health Day, Kate Foster, a psychotherapist and former manager of an NHS perinatal counselling service, explains why therapists shouldn’t confine our curiosity about birth experiences to the perinatal period.