Traumatic birth experience in a critical care obstetric patient with peripartum stress cardiomyopathy: a case report.

Posttraumatic stress after childbirth affects up to 6% of postpartum patients, with higher rates among those who experience obstetric complications or intensive care admission. We describe the case of a 37 year-old woman with a repeat cesarean delivery complicated by transient heart muscle dysfunction who required cardiac intensive care admission. Due to her unique clinical course, three validated patient-reported instruments and a semi-structured interview used for research purposes in critical care patients were employed to assess her postoperative recovery, care experience, and early and 6-week trauma symptoms. Despite a favorable medical outcome and a high patient-rated experience of care, she met screening criteria for early posttraumatic stress on postoperative day 3. By six weeks, standardized symptom scores had improved, but her narrative continued to reflect grief and loss. This case highlights a gap between quantitative recovery and lived psychological experience, supporting systematic trauma screening and trauma-informed practices in obstetric intensive care settings.