Investigating the Effect of Debriefing Intervention on Postpartum Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of debriefing intervention on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following traumatic childbirth. Methods: This was a randomized clinical trial conducted on 70 postpartum women who experienced traumatic childbirth and referred to health centers of Tabriz, Iran. The participants were assigned into two groups of counselling and control (n=35 per group) using block randomization. The intervention group joined a counselling session with critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) approach 3-5 days after childbirth. Post-traumatic Stress Checklist (PCL-5) and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were completed by the subjects before the intervention session, and 4-6 weeks after childbirth. ANCOVA was used for data analysis. Results: The mean score of PTSD symptoms showed significant decrease in the intervention group compared to the control group (adjusted mean difference [AMD] =-5.72, 95% CI: -10.47 to -0.96, P=0.01). Conclusions: It is recommended to compare the effectiveness of structured and unstructured debriefing in future studies.