Evaluating the Effect of Hugging and Praying on Traumatic Birth Perception, Birth Pain, and Birth Anxiety

NCT07299136 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2025/38
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 164
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Pregnant women participating in our study will receive the intervention (hugging, praying, and hugging + praying) from the researcher or a relative as often as they wish during labor and contractions. These sessions will be administered during each stage of labor, taking into account when the pregnant woman is ready to begin the intervention.

Conditions

The Effect of Hugging and Praying on Traumatic Birth Perception, Pain, and Anxiety

Keywords

birth; hugging; praying; pain; anxiety; trauma

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Information Form

  This form, prepared by the researcher in line with the literature, inquires about the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants.

  Before starting the first session average 8 months

• Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

  It is a one-dimensional scale that objectively assesses a pregnant woman's perception of pain. It allows some values that cannot be measured numerically to be converted into numerical values. In 1921, Hayes and Peterson argued that emotional levels could be expressed on lines. The VAS was first developed and used by Bond and Pilowsky in 1966. The VAS is a 100 mm (10 cm) ruler used to quantitatively determine pain intensity, with one end representing painlessness (0 = no pain) and the other end representing the most severe pain (10 = severe pain). The patient marks any point between the two points that corresponds to the severity of their pain. The distance between the end of the scale representing painlessness and the point marked by the patient is measured with a ruler and recorded in centimeters. This numerical value indicates the pregnant woman's pain intensity. 0 cm = No pain, 0.53 cm = Mild pain, 3.5-6.5 = Moderate (Ergin, 2013; Aslan, 2006; Mucuk, 2009).

  average 8 months

• Traumatic Birth Perception Scale

  TThe Traumatic Birth Perception Scale (TBRS), developed by Yalnız et al. in 2016, is a thirteen-item, unidimensional Likert-type separation scale (Yalnız et al., 2016). Scores range from 0 to 10 for all items not requiring reverse scoring. The minimum scale score is 0 and the maximum is 130. The total scale score ranges from 0 to 26, indicating very low levels of perception of traumatic birth; 27 to 52, indicating low levels; 53 to 78, indicating moderate levels; 79 to 104, indicating high levels; and 105 to 130, indicating very high levels of perception of traumatic birth. The scale's Cronbach's alpha coefficient is .89 (Yalnız et al., 2016).

  average 8 months

Study Arms (4)

Group 1

EXPERIMENTAL

Hugging

Other: Hugging group,

Group 2

EXPERIMENTAL

Praying

Other: Prayer group

Group 3

EXPERIMENTAL

Hugging and Praying

Other: Hugging and Praying group

Group 4

NO INTERVENTION

CONTROL

Interventions

Prayer group OTHER

For the prayer group, whenever the pregnant woman wishes, or during contractions if she wishes, a close relative (husband, mother, sister, etc.) or midwife will recite a prayer of the pregnant woman's choice, if she has one; if she does not have a preferred prayer, the first 5 verses of Surah Al-Inshiqaq will be recited: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful 1. When the sky is split asunder, 2. And obeys the command of its Lord, 3. When the earth is stretched out flat, 4. And casts forth what is within it, 5. And obeys the command of its Lord, every person will be confronted with what they have done! To be recited together

Group 2

Hugging group, OTHER

For the hugging group, hugging sessions will be provided whenever the pregnant woman desires and during contractions, if she wishes, by a close relative (husband, mother, sister, etc.) or midwife. The pregnant woman can be hugged for as long as she wants or for 5-10 minutes.

Group 1

Hugging and Praying group OTHER

The Hugging and Praying group will perform both hugging and praying together with the woman.

Group 3

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age ≥18 years
• No communication barriers
• Applying to Ağrı Training and Research Hospital for normal delivery within the study dates
• Volunteering to participate in the study
• No contraindications for normal vaginal delivery (e.g., cephalopelvic disproportion)
• Being at term (38-42 weeks)
• No condition preventing praying and hugging

You may not qualify if:

• Refusal to participate in the study
• Maternal disease (heart disease, diabetes, etc.)
• Having a preterm or postterm pregnancy
• Undergoing an emergency cesarean section during follow-up
• Having a fetal malformation (anencephaly, Down syndrome, etc.)
• Not answering the questions in the questionnaire

Sponsors & Collaborators

• NURTEN ÖZÇALKAP: lead
• Agri Ibrahim Cecen University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Ağri İbrahim Çeçen Universty

Ağrı, Ağrı, 04100, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Redshaw M, Martin C, Rowe R, Hockley C. The Oxford Worries about Labour Scale: women's experience and measurement characteristics of a measure of maternal concern about labour and birth. Psychol Health Med. 2009 May;14(3):354-66. doi: 10.1080/13548500802707159.

  PMID: 19444713 RESULT

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pain; Anxiety Disorders; Wounds and Injuries

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Nurten Özçalkap

  AĞRI İBRAHİM ÇEÇEN UNIVERSTY

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• SİBEL YÜCETÜRK, Asist. Prof.

  SİNOP UNIVERSTY

  STUDY CHAIR

• AYŞE Çuvadar, Assot Prof.

  KARABUK UNIVERTY

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Asistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 28, 2025
• First Posted: December 23, 2025
• Study Start: April 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: July 30, 2025
• Study Completion: November 30, 2025
• Last Updated: April 22, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)