A Narrative Synthesis of Women's Out‐of‐Body Experiences During Childbirth

Abstract

OBEs are part of the lived experience of some women giving birth. The OBEs in this review were trauma related with some women disclosing previous posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is not evident whether there is a connection between PTSD and OBEs at present, and OBEs may serve as a potential coping mechanism in the presence of trauma. Clinicians should legitimize women's disclosure of OBEs and explore and ascertain their impact, either as a normal coping mechanism or a precursor to perinatal mental illness. Research into the function of OBEs and any relationship to PTSD may assist in early interventions for childbearing women.

Psychedelic Birth: Bodies, Boundaries and the Perception of Pain in the 1970s

“…Scholars perceive descriptions of women floating out of their bodies, observing the birth from above, as a form of dissociation or disembodiment, signifying current or past trauma. 36 This was not what was being described in Spiritual Midwifery. In this context, birth was truly a communal experience -not just witnessed by others, but felt by others as well.…”