Trauma-Informed Obstetric Care: Development and Implementation of a Toolkit for Obstetrics (OBTIC)

Summary

Many pregnant women have experienced trauma, which can make perinatal care stressful and increase the risk of pregnancy-related health conditions. However, obstetric providers can modify procedures to reduce distress and enhance patients' sense of control and safety. Although obstetric providers frequently care for trauma survivors, most are not trained in trauma-informed care (TIC). Additionally, there are no data on feasibility, appropriateness, or acceptability of TIC tools and interventions in the context of obstetrics. The goal of this project is to develop the first, stakeholder-informed obstetric TIC toolkit composed of treatment protocols, clinician training, trauma and violence screening tools, and other resources to help obstetric providers apply TIC practices to all clinical interactions in addition to identifying and providing support for trauma survivors. The obstetric TIC intervention toolkit (OB-TIC) will be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders (pregnant and postpartum patients, nurses, physicians, and administrators) to ensure that it is feasible, acceptable, appropriate, cost-effective, and clinically useful. Current practices and preferences will be characterized in qualitative interviews with stakeholders which will inform the development of OBTIC in collaboration with a community working group of stakeholders. A pilot implementation trial of OB-TIC will be conducted in outpatient obstetrics clinics to gather real-world data that will inform the final intervention toolkit, which will be tested on a larger scale in future studies.

Conditions

• Trauma
• Obstetrics Trauma
• Pregnancy Related

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Obstetric Trauma Informed Care Toolkit

The OB-TIC toolkit will include provider and staff training on trauma- informed care and information on trauma-related perinatal concerns; trauma assessment tools; trauma-informed procedure modifications; clinical language guides; patient-facing resources including birth strategies, referral resources, and education; and clinical language. The OB-TIC intervention will utilize the toolkit to integrate trauma-informed care into clinical practice. Implementation strategies will be assessed to determine the most effective method for integrating OB-TIC content into practice.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island

  collaborator OTHER

• The Miriam Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Laura G Ward, Ph.D. · The Miriam Hospital

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

99 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-07-01

Primary Completion

2027-06-01

Completion

2027-06-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations