Trial reportActa obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica2023
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.
Trial report in Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy of non-pharmacological interventions on fear of childbirth for pregnant women: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- 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 · 2023Trial
- Antenatal intervention for childbirth trauma: the clinical profile of Australian women at a tertiary hospital.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Managing anxiety-related disorders from pregnancy to parenthood.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2026Review
- A Feasibility and Acceptability Trial of Narrative Exposure Therapy During Pregnancy.Behavior therapy · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionPregnant 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
methodsA 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.
resultsA 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.
conclusionsEMDR 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.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.