Tickets are now available for the second annual Birth Trauma Awareness Dinner on Saturday, September 28 from 5-9 pm at Maverick’s Landing Zone, 500 South 8th Street, Quincy. Proceeds will be donated to the Blessing Foundation to assist mothers who give birth at Blessing Hospital’s Blessed Beginnings birth center and experience birth trauma, to receive the therapies they may need on their recovery journey.

Birth trauma is any physical or emotional distress a woman may experience during or after childbirth. Up to 45% of new mothers experience birth trauma and the effects can continue long after the birth itself. As with other forms of trauma, unresolved birth trauma can result in low self-esteem, relationship issues, stress and anxiety, panic attacks and other behavioral issues including substance use disorder.

Cost to support the second annual Birth Trauma Awareness Dinner is $55 per person, or $400 per table of eight. Dinner will be catered by Boki's Kitchen and feature chicken, vegetable, potato, and a salad. A cash bar will be available. To order tickets go to https://qr.net/birthtraumadinner.

Call or text event organizer Kala Breder with questions at 217-257-4224.

Breder experienced birth trauma with the arrival of her third child in July 2020 by emergency Cesarean Section. The birth led to a series of medical complications, including the need for more than 30 units of blood and multiple surgeries. Breder required extensive physical therapy and treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder over a three-year period as a result of her birth trauma.  

She also facilitates the Kaleidoscope Women’s Support Group. It meets the second Wednesday of each month at 7 pm in Luther Memorial Church, 1210 Jersey Street, Quincy, to help all women deal with life’s challenges.