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Author: Prem Nand, Clinical Dietitian – Nutritionist, Copyright Maximised Nutrition Limited 2025

Introduction

The Trauma You Don’t See Many women silently carry the weight of childhood trauma—emotional abuse, neglect, or growing up in chaotic homes. What’s less understood is how this early stress continues to impact the body, years or even decades later.
Childhood trauma doesn’t just leave emotional scars. It can rewire a woman’s stress system, disrupt hormones, weaken the immune response, and increase the risk of developing chronic illness. Conditions like anxiety, autoimmune disease, IBS, infertility, and even food allergies in the next generation are now being linked to unhealed trauma from childhood.
Understanding the connection between childhood trauma and women's health is key to better prevention, early screening, and compassionate care.

Key Takeaways

Childhood trauma affects stress hormones, immunity, and reproductive health in women.

It increases the risk of chronic illnesses like IBS, heart disease, and autoimmune conditions.

Trauma can affect pregnancy and even the future health of a child.

Screening and trauma-informed care are essential for better outcomes.

Healing is possible—and it starts with being heard, seen, and supported.

Photo credit: Image by flavio jose pantera from Pixabay

What Is Childhood Trauma?

Childhood trauma refers to overwhelming experiences in early life that leave a child feeling unsafe, unseen, or helpless. This may include:
• Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
• Neglect or abandonment
• Witnessing domestic violence
• Growing up with addiction, mental illness, or incarceration in the home
The landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study found that nearly two-thirds of adults have experienced at least one form of early trauma—and the higher the number, the greater the risk for long-term health problems (Felitti et al., 1998).

Summary Table: Health Conditions in Women with Childhood Trauma

How Trauma Affects a Woman’s Body

The Stress Hormone Pathway (HPA Axis)

When you face stress, your brain activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which produces cortisol—a hormone that helps you respond to danger. In children exposed to trauma, this system can become permanently altered.
In adult women, a disrupted HPA axis can:
• Blunt or exaggerate the stress response
• Promote chronic inflammation
• Suppress immune function
• Disrupt blood sugar, blood pressure, and sleep
Over time, these changes contribute to chronic conditions like fatigue, anxiety, autoimmune disease, and cardiovascular risk (Heim et al., 2000).

Hormonal and Reproductive Disruption (HPO Axis)

Stress also affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis, which regulates the menstrual cycle, ovulation, and fertility. Chronic stress can reduce reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone, which explains why many women with trauma histories experience:
• Irregular or painful periods
• Early menarche or menopause
• Infertility or difficulty conceiving
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
In fact, studies show that women with high ACE scores are twice as likely to struggle with infertility (Leeners et al., 2014).

Trauma Can Be Passed to the Next Generation One of the most surprising findings in trauma research is how unresolved stress in mothers can affect their children’s health, even before birth.

Prenatal Stress and Fetal Programming

When a pregnant woman experiences chronic stress, high levels of cortisol can cross the placenta and alter fetal brain and immune system development. This process is known as fetal programming.

Children born to mothers who were stressed or anxious during pregnancy are at higher risk of:
• Allergies and eczema
• Asthma and wheezing
• Behavioral issues
• Emotional sensitivity
These effects may be caused by epigenetic changes—stress-related modifications in gene expression that affect how the child’s body responds to the environment (Wright et al., 2005; Hompes et al., 2013).

(Prem Nand, Clinical Dietitian - Nutritionist, NZRD can testify here that this part is so true. She was going through a difficult season when she found out that she was 5 months' pregnant. Her daughter had severe food allergies when introduced to food at 6 months' old (no maternal history noted). Daughter is all healed after gut restoration therapy that Prem undertook when daughter was off age to participate).

Short Fall In Screening For Traumatized Women

Many women seek help for fatigue, hormone imbalances, gut issues, infertility, or chronic pain—yet trauma is rarely discussed in routine care.

That needs to change.
Early trauma is one of the most powerful predictors of long-term illness, but unless it’s recognized, it can go unaddressed. Trauma-informed screening tools like the ACE questionnaire or a gentle clinical interview can help identify women at risk.

Importantly, trauma survivors often feel shame, guilt, or fear of judgment. That’s why trauma screening must be done in a way that is:
• Safe
• Respectful
• Compassionate
• Non-pressuring
When trauma is acknowledged, healing becomes possible.

Advocacy For Trauma-Informed Care

The Role of Trauma-Informed Care Trauma-informed care is not just about asking the right questions—it’s about how we deliver care.
It means recognizing that symptoms may have a deeper story and shifting the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

Trauma-informed care in women’s health should:
• Offer choice and collaboration (not command)
• Create a safe, calm environment
• Integrate nutrition, sleep, and hormone support
• Include referrals to therapy or somatic healing when needed
Clinicians should also understand that trauma can make medical visits feel threatening or overwhelming. Being gentle, patient, and clear about what will happen next builds trust and helps women feel seen—not retraumatized.

Conclusion

Childhood trauma isn’t just a past event—it can echo through the body for decades. But recognizing its impact on women’s health opens the door to change.
By screening for trauma, validating women’s experiences, and offering trauma-informed care, we can begin to reverse the cycle of chronic illness, hormonal imbalance, and intergenerational stress.
Healing starts when we are finally safe enough to do so. Let’s make women’s health a place where that’s possible.

ACC in NZ provides a Sensitive Claim Program for those who have experienced sexual abuse including child hood sexual abuse that leads can lead to PTSD and other mental health issues. Talk to your GP about this program.

Reference

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