I wonder if the trauma for the first birth is also related to everything changing afterward? I mean, your body goes through this huge shock, and has done for the past 9 months or so, and you never really recover from that. I'm sure you feel like you'd like to sleep for a week but really, you don't even get a full NIGHTS sleep for a few years. So, while I have no doubt that birth is traumatic, especially the first time, I think it's the whole package.
Yes I think this is it exactly. For me I can't separate the birth from the weeks aftwards. The birth itself was perfect, but perhaps because it was the catalyst for change it left me so raw.