Petals: An Assessment of the Outcomes of a Service for Bereavement during Childbirth.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of Petals: a charitable organisation in Cambridgeshire. Petals provides counselling for women and couples who have suffered perinatal bereavement, or trauma during pregnancy or birth. This paper attempts to evaluate the effect of counseling interventions at this difficult time.

METHODS: Outcomes were recorded in 42 patients using the CORE (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation) system. CORE was developed to assess the effectiveness of psychological therapies. CORE-OM (CORE Outcome Measure) involves a questionnaire that assesses subjective well-being, symptoms / problems, function, and risk to self and others. The CORE-OM questionnaire was completed before and after the counselling sessions.

RESULTS: The CORE-OM scores were summated into a global representation of severity. Severity decreased in all patients. Symptoms of psychological pathology were also decreased in all cases.

CONCLUSION: A review of the available literature indicates that little is known about the efficacy of therapy for perinatal bereavement and trauma. These original data suggest convincing efficacy and benefits, but the numbers involved are small.Further trials with greater sample sizes are required.