JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

A traumatic childbirth experience, sometimes referred to as 'birth trauma,' is a woman's experience of interactions and/or events directly related to childbirth that caused overwhelming distressing emotions and reactions, leading to short- and/or long-term negative impacts on a woman's health and wellbeing. Traumatic childbirth experiences can lead to poor mental health outcomes in postpartum women, severely impacting mother-infant attachment, child development, and the overall mental health of the family unit. Currently, there are no early intervention programmes designed specifically for postpartum mothers who experience birth trauma to decrease the likelihood of postpartum depression, anxiety and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This project will assess the feasibility and acceptability of a telehealth delivered and early-intervention for this group.

Objective:

To assess the acceptability and feasibility of a telehealth, narrative-informed group-based early intervention programme for postpartum women in reducing the mental health impacts of having experienced a traumatic childbirth.

Methods:

The intervention is a narrative-informed, group-based therapy delivered via telehealth to postpartum women who self-report having experienced a traumatic childbirth experience in the past six months. Eligible participants were recruited from a specific catchment area (Hunter New England Local Health District) within New South Wales, Australia. The study aimed to recruit a maximum of 16 postpartum women who were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or a waitlist control group. The intervention consists of six weekly sessions, delivered in group format, each lasting 60 to 120 minutes.

Results:

The study is currently ongoing, but the results will indicate if this early intervention programme is acceptable and feasible, and if it decreases postpartum mental health symptoms of depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Conclusions:

This study is expected to improve understanding of how to support postpartum women who have experienced birth trauma and potentially reduce the burden on mental health services in regional (i.e., semi-rural) and rural Australia. Clinical Trial: This project was registered prospectively with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR12624000460505p) on 26 March 2024, with a Universal Trial Number of U1111-1305-9340, and has received ethics approval from the University of New England’s Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval Number HE24-054, valid till 1 June 2025).