The role of social support in how postpartum women view and experience birth: functional social support and posttraumatic stress in the first postpartum year: a cross-sectional study

Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur in response to psychological birth trauma, the impact of which during the postpartum period can be far reaching. Research has found that social support is an important protective factor against postpartum (PP-PTSS). Greater levels of functional social support (FSS) have been identified as particularly related to less PTSS. This cross-sectional online survey study evaluated the relationship between FSS and PP-PTSS, compared types of FSS and their relationship to PP-PTSS, as well as explored these relationships at different timepoints within the first postpartum year. The outcomes demonstrated that FSS is protective against PP-PTSS and that Emotional/Informational support is most protective, adding to the current literature on protective factors related to PP-PTSS. The study failed to find evidence that these relationships differed by timepoint within the first postpartum year. Implementation studies are recommended to assess translation of findings.