How safe is the treatment of pregnant women with fear of childbirth using eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy? Obstetric outcomes of a multi-center randomized controlled trial

The purpose of the study was to determine the obstetric safety and effectiveness of EMDR therapy for pregnant women with fear of childbirth.

Article Abstract

“Introduction: Pregnant women with fear of childbirth display an elevated risk of a negative delivery experience, birth-related post-traumatic stress disorder, and adverse perinatal outcomes such as preterm birth, low birthweight, and postpartum depression. One of the therapies used to treat fear of childbirth is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. The purpose of the present study was to determine the obstetric safety and effectiveness of EMDR therapy applied to pregnant women with fear of childbirth.

Material and methods: A randomized controlled trial (the OptiMUM-study) was conducted in two teaching hospitals and five community midwifery practices in the Netherlands (www.trialregister.nl, NTR5122). Pregnant women (n = 141) with a gestational age between 8 and 20 weeks and suffering from fear of childbirth (i.e. sum score on the Wijma Delivery Expectations Questionnaire ≥85) were randomly allocated to either EMDR therapy (n = 70) or care-as-usual (CAU) (n = 71). Outcomes were maternal and neonatal outcomes and patient satisfaction with pregnancy and childbirth.

Results: A high percentage of cesarean sections (37.2%) were performed, which did not differ between groups. However, women in the EMDR therapy group proved seven times less likely to request an induction of labor without medical indication than women in the CAU group. There were no other significant differences between the groups in maternal or neonatal outcomes, satisfaction, or childbirth experience.

Conclusions: EMDR therapy during pregnancy does not adversely affect pregnancy or the fetus. Therefore, therapists should not be reluctant to treat pregnant women with fear of childbirth using EMDR therapy.”

—Description from publisher

Article Access

Open Access

Baas, M. A., Stramrood, C. A., Dijksman, L. M., Vanhommerig, J. W., de Jongh, A., & van Pampus, M. G. (2023). How safe is the treatment of pregnant women with fear of childbirth using eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy? Obstetric outcomes of a multi-center randomized controlled trial. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 102(11), 1575-1585. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1111/aogs.14628

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Date
March 20, 2023

Creator(s)
Melanie A. M. Baas, Claire A. I. Stramrood, Lea M. Dijksman

Contributor(s)
Joost W. Vanhommerig, Ad de Jongh, Mariëlle G. van Pampus

Topics
Pregnancy/Perinatal

Practice & Methods
Efficacy

Extent
11 pages

Rights
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.© 2023 The Authors. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NFOG).

APA Citation
Baas, M. A., Stramrood, C. A., Dijksman, L. M., Vanhommerig, J. W., de Jongh, A., & van Pampus, M. G. (2023). How safe is the treatment of pregnant women with fear of childbirth using eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy? Obstetric outcomes of a multi-center randomized controlled trial. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 102(11), 1575-1585. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1111/aogs.14628

Audience
EMDR Therapists, Other Mental Health Professionals

Language
English

Content Type
Article, Peer-Reviewed, RCT

Access Type
External Resource, Open Access

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