I am a Clinical Psychologist and transformation coach for women. I’ve also taught childbirth education. I have 12+ years experience supporting families through the worst traumas imaginable, to find growth, strength and beautiful resilience they never knew possible. After experiencing my own birth trauma (twice!) I quickly learned how little support and training there is for our birth workers who hear and witness these stories every day. From this, I developed two birth trauma training courses – one for parents, and one for birth workers. I gained over 650 enrolments in 3 months, so I know how much this work is needed. I also run a birth trauma training podcast, and I’m currently finishing writing my book. A beautiful, heartfelt call to action for families to not only find strength and growth after birth trauma, but to become the guardians of change in birth culture for the next generation.

Maria Caterina Cattaneo is a psychotherapist with a psychodynamic orientation and EMDR practitioner. In the 90s she accumulated a large experience in the field of the clinical psychology of the developmental age, both in public hospitals (Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry department in Lecco, and a collaboration with the department of Neonatal Pathology in Monza), and in the Scientific Institute Eugenio Medea in Bosisio Parini, where she has also done research on depression in children and adolescents, giving an important contribution to the Italian version of the Achenbach CBCL (4-18) . For several years she worked on the protection of minors (at the department of Social Services of the city of Monza) , conducting diagnosis and microanalysis of highly conflictual couples, and support groups for parents. Besides her free practice, since 2006 she has been coordinating the project on “When birth becomes crisis”, a collaborative project between the departments of Neonatology and Neonatal Pathology of the Maternity Hospital Mangiagalli in Milan and the Consultorio Familiare “Genitori Oggi”and , since the last year, in the Humanitas Hospital PioX. The clinical activity consists of psychological work in the maternity wards, inside the Hospital, and, when needed, therapeutic intervention with mothers or fathers , couples or mother - infant bonding at the Perinatal Psychology Unit, founded in 2006 at the same hospital. Since 2008 she has started the research activity of the Unit on the prevention of post-partum depression; some results of this research have been published in international journals, and have been presented at several AISMI conferences, while others are in the process of publication. In the last years she has started, with her collaborators, a new research project based on the use of EMDR in perinatal psychology, implying the preparation of two new protocols on delivery trauma and problems concerning breastfeeding.

Sarah McNamee is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and endorsed as an Infant Mental Health Mentor (Clinical). She is the Director/Owner of McNamee & Associates, LLC, a company that specializes in infant and early childhood mental health and supports families, communities, and providers through direct service, consultation, supervision/mentoring, and training. Sarah’s specialties include infant/early childhood mental health (with a focus on supporting families with baby/young child born premature, babies and young children with special health care needs, and highly sensitive babies/young children/parents), supporting infant regulation, reflective practice, and the provision of reflective supervision/consultation. Sarah is passionate about co-creating spaces that welcome the inherent wisdom and strength of individuals and communities in a trauma-informed and culturally responsive way. It is in these spaces that we discover the best tools we have for supporting individuals and communities, as well as changing our systems of care for babies, young children, and families. Sarah is the parent to three beautifully amazing and challenging human beings who continue to teach her the true meaning of intentional, attuned, and responsive caregiving.