BPDFamily.com

I have been putting together a (mental) list of possible environmental triggers of BPD.

My daughter showed traits of the disorder when she was very young, which is why I am exploring all possibilities.

She was a forceps delivery as she was slightly the wrong way facing, at birth.  I am small, with a narrow pelvis and she was a big baby.  The doctor had his foot braced on the end of the bed and was pulling on her head to get her out. I was certain she would be damaged. I felt relief when I looked at her expression, when I first held her because it seemed like we had dodged a bullet.

She was born with a slightly mis-shapen head and big red markings on her face, where the forceps had been.

Has anyone else wondered about this? Has any research ever been done about the incidence of BPD and birth trauma?

I also wonder about this sometimes. My son was a difficult forcep delivery and born with marks on his head.  What are the signs in childhood? One thing I remember is that he seemed to have nightmares, even at months old, his face would look petrified in his sleep and he would be sobbing in his sleep. I told my doctor at the time but he just laughed it off.

At nursery, my dd, at 3 or 4 had difficulties with a friendship triangle.  She told me, "My heart hurts."  This did not seem normal chat for a tot.  I took her out of the school and sent her to a Steiner school (she was happier there).  However, social difficulties have plagued her all through her childhood, peaking when I had to send her to her secondary school.  She once described how she  changed herself and tried to fit in with various different groups/cliques in school.  It was a tortutous description and the experience must have been unbearable for her.

I haven't seen any research on this. I would have a lot of questions if they linked birth trauma to BPD or other mental illnesses. My son has some sensory processing issues (prevalent with people who are autistic and/or ADHD) that laypeople have tried to link to caesarean section. Except my son was not C section. He also has asthma, even though breastfeeding advocates say break milk eliminates allergies/asthma. Except my son was breast fed for a year.

Researchers would need to look at all forceps deliveries and follow them for years to see if any mental health issues arose. I'm willing to guess that there are a lot of forcep-delivered babies who do not have BPD or other mental health issues.

Going through the birth canal is a really intense thing! Even without forceps, a lot of babies born naturally have misshapen heads, and some of them have irregular shapes for up to a year, then end up fine  :)