ReWrite Birth

Giving birth is a major life event, often in the most positive regard. Sadly, some have a traumatic birth experience instead. In this project, we are developing and evaluating a multidisciplinary intervention aimed at reducing post-traumatic stress following a traumatic childbirth experience.

Watercolour-style illustration showing an adult holding a child. In the background, the entrance to a maternity ward and two seated people are visible. — Illustration: Matilda Petersson

Approximately one in five individuals who have given birth show symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and 3–6 per cent develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While the National Board of Health and Welfare have concluded that it is essential to give postpartum women who suffer psychologically access to multi-professional assessment and treatment, there is a lack of scientifically evaluated interventions to offer women with childbirth-related posttraumatic stress.

The aim of the ReWrite Beith project is therefore to develop and evaluate a multi-professional intervention to reduce post-traumatic stress following a traumatic childbirth experience.

We will start by interviewing healthcare professionals and individuals who have had a traumatic childbirth experience to understand their perspectives and suggestions for good support and treatment. We will then develop the intervention using insights from the interviews, along with previous research findings and current treatment guidelines. Finally, we will evaluate the intervention in both a randomized controlled trial and routine clinical practice.

The project brings together a multidisciplinary team of researchers from several Swedish universities, international experts in the field, and representatives from both the target group and healthcare services.