ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2025
Potentially traumatic childbirth experience, childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and the parent-infant relationship in non-birthing parents.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prediction models for postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of factors contributing to partners' negative birth experiences.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Pooled it
- PTSD-related symptoms in parents of children with systemic lupus erythematosus: a cross-sectional study.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNon-birthing parents are typically present for the birth of their infants. Evidence suggests that some non-birthing parents may experience witnessing childbirth as traumatic, with some going on to develop childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD). This study aimed to explore the associations between non-birthing parents' experiences of childbirth, symptoms of CB-PTSD, and the parent-infant relationship. The COVID-19 pandemic context is considered throughout the study, although it must be noted that most data were not collected during UK lockdown restrictions.
methodsA cross-sectional design was utilised. Participants were non-birthing parents who were present for the birth of their first infant, aged between 6 weeks and 12 months old. Participants were recruited through social media platforms via third-sector organisations, namely Dad Matters; a Home-Start project and The Birth Trauma Association. A total of 312 non-birthing parents provided demographic details and obstetric details of the mother's birth. They also completed questionnaires about their experiences of the birth they were present for, CB-PTSD symptoms, and levels of warmth and invasion in the parent-infant relationship.
resultsWithin this sample, 49% experienced the birth they were present for as potentially traumatic. Moreover, 10.1% met clinical criteria for CB-PTSD symptoms, and an additional 7% met sub-clinical criteria. Non-birthing parents who experienced birth as potentially traumatic reported significantly higher CB-PTSD symptoms and felt a greater sense of invasion in relation to their infant. However, levels of warmth in the parent-infant relationship were not statistically different between the two groups. CB-PTSD symptoms had significant associations with invasion but not with warmth, and they mediated the relationship between possible birth trauma and invasion in the parent-infant relationship.
conclusionsThis study's sample revealed a substantial proportion of non-birthing parents experiencing birth as potentially traumatic, with 10.1% meeting CB-PTSD criteria, a higher incidence than previously reported in the literature. This may be attributed the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. CB-PTSD symptoms were negatively associated with feelings of invasion in the parent-infant relationship, but not with warmth. Future research should aim to replicate this study design with routine samples of non-birthing parents recruited from maternity settings.
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