Psychological flexibility, birth satisfaction and postnatal trauma symptoms in women with abnormally invasive placenta

ABSTRACT

Background

Abnormally Invasive Placenta is an obstetric condition resulting in significant physical complications and shown to increase the likelihood of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Dissatisfaction with the care experienced increases the likelihood of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Psychological flexibility has been shown to reduce the severity of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but there is no research regarding either of these in women with Abnormally Invasive Placenta.

Aim

To investigate if there is a relationship between trauma experience in women with a diagnosis of Abnormally Invasive Placenta, psychological flexibility, and birth satisfaction.

Method

Using a retrospective questionnaire, 126 participants age range 18–45, comprising the Birth Satisfaction Scale Revised Indicator (BSS-RI), Impact of Events Scale Revised (IES-R) and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-2) was completed. A hierarchical regression assessed the predictive relationship of Psychological Flexibility and Birth Satisfaction on Trauma symptoms

Results

The relationship between Birth Satisfaction measured using the BSS-RI and likelihood of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (IES-R) was not supported (r (124) = −.08, p = .36). Results did show that Psychological Flexibility (AAQ-2) correlated with Trauma Score (IES-R) (r (124) = .68, p < .001) in women who had experienced Abnormally Invasive Placenta and explained 45.3% of the variance.

Conclusion

The results suggest that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in those with Abnormally Invasive Placenta is as high as 1 in 2 and can be mediated by psychological flexibility. In turn, this suggests that interventions to increase Psychological Flexibility in those with the diagnosis may reduce trauma symptom severity.Abbreviations: AAQ-2 - Acceptance and Action QuestionnaireAIP - Abnormally Invasive PlacentaBAME – Black Asian or other Minority EthnicitiesBSS-RI Birth Satisfaction Scale Revised IndicatorEPH – EPH Gestosis (Pre eclampsia/Eclampsia)DSM – Diagnostic Statical ManualIES-R - Impact of Events Scale RevisedPAS - Placenta Accreta SpectrumPTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

KEYWORDS:

• Accreta placenta
• PTSD
• birth satisfaction
• postnatal trauma
• abnormally invasive
• placenta
• psychological flexibility

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the National Accreta Foundation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.