effect of the sacred hour on postnatal depression in traumatic childbirth: a randomized controlled trial

Introduction: the implementation of the baby’s nine instinctive stages as a sacred hour after birth is very effective in starting breastfeeding. about half of newly delivered mothers have reported a traumatic childbirth experience often associated with mental health problems. the present study aimed to examine the effect of the sacred hour on the depression in traumatic childbirths. methods: in this clinical trial, 84 mothers who had experienced a traumatic childbirth were randomly allocated into the intervention (n = 42) and control (n = 42) groups. the intervention group received sacred hour (baby’s nine instinctive responses), but the control group received only the routine care. postnatal depression was evaluated as primary outcome at 2 week, 4-6 week and 3 month intervals after the delivery. the data were analyzed using t test, chi-square test and the repeated measures analysis of variance. results: the results showed that the marginal total mean (sd: standard deviation) scores of depression in the intervention and control groups were 7.5 (2.6) and 9.6 (2.6); therefore, the mean difference (95% ci) between the groups (-2.1, (-3.2,-0.95)) was significant. conclusion: the implementation of the sacred hour is recommended as a preventive approach to reduce the postnatal depression in women with a traumatic childbirth experience.