Early online trauma-focused group intervention for perinatal trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic

A multicentre, randomised, parallel-group study to compare the effectiveness of an early eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing group intervention with care as usual in preventing post-traumatic stress symptoms in women who have experienced a traumatic birth

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN68624341

Enrollment

Registered

2021-08-19

Start date

2021-10-18

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2021-10-26

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in women who have experienced perinatal trauma Mental and Behavioural Disorders Post-traumatic stress disorder, Depressive episode

Interventions

Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) informed early Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) psychological intervention compared to control treatment as usual (TAU). Randomisa

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

Female

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Women who have had a caesarean birth 2. Women who have experienced their birth as traumatic 3. Women who meet subclinical symptom criteria for PTSD under 33 on the impact of event scale 4. Aged over 18 years with the legal capacity to consent 5. Willingness and ability to attend three online intervention sessions

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Score over >35 on the Dissociative Experience Scale 2. Presence of severe psychiatric disorder such as psychosis, bipolar or active suicide risk 3. Women currently diagnosed with PTSD 4. Presence of severe medical conditions including traumatic brain injuries 5. Currently receiving psychological treatment 6. Drug or alcohol abuse 7. Overt dementia 8. Ongoing injected or oral corticosteroid treatment 9. Women who have absolutely no social and familial support 10. Women who are critically ill

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Post-traumatic stress disorder measured by the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5), Impact of Events Scale - revised (IES-R) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) at baseline and at 12 weeks postpartum	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Depression measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at baseline and at 12 weeks postpartum	—

Countries

Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Contacts

Public ContactPaula Miller

miller-p6@ulster.ac.uk+44 (0)7725 727 383

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026