Evaluating the Effect of Hugging and Praying on Traumatic Birth Perception, Birth Pain, and Birth Anxiety

April 18, 2026 updated by: NURTEN ÖZÇALKAP
Pregnant women participating in our study will receive the intervention (hugging, praying, and hugging + praying) from the researcher or a relative as often as they wish during labor and contractions. These sessions will be administered during each stage of labor, taking into account when the pregnant woman is ready to begin the intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Pregnant women participating in our study will receive the intervention (hugging, praying, and hugging + praying) from the researcher or a relative as often as they wish during labor and contractions. These sessions will be administered during each stage of labor, taking into account when the pregnant woman is ready to begin the intervention.

For the hugging group, hugging sessions will be performed whenever the pregnant woman wants and during contractions, if she wishes, by a relative (husband, mother, sister, etc.) or midwife. The pregnant woman can be hugged for as long as she wants or for 5-10 minutes. For the prayer group, whenever the pregnant woman wishes, or during contractions if she wishes, a close relative (husband, mother, sister, etc.) or midwife will recite a prayer chosen by the pregnant woman, if she has one; if she does not have a preferred prayer, the first 5 verses of Surah Al-Inshiqaq will be recited:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

  1. When the sky is split asunder,
  2. And obeys the command of its Lord,
  3. When the earth is stretched out flat,
  4. And casts forth what is within it,
  5. And obeys the command of its Lord, every person will be confronted with what they have done! To be read together Before starting the first session, the "Information Form," "Visual Analog Scale," Traumatic Birth Perception Scale, and "Oxford Birth Anxiety Scale (Appendix 4)" will be administered. and at the end of the first, second, and fourth stages of birth, the "Visual Analog Scale," "Traumatic Birth Perception Scale," and "Oxford Birth Anxiety Scale" will be administered.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
164

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Ağrı
      • Ağrı, Ağrı, Turkey (Türkiye), 04100
        • Ağri İbrahim Çeçen Universty

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age ≥18 years

    • No communication barriers
    • Applying to Ağrı Training and Research Hospital for normal delivery within the study dates
    • Volunteering to participate in the study
    • No contraindications for normal vaginal delivery (e.g., cephalopelvic disproportion)
    • Being at term (38-42 weeks)
    • No condition preventing praying and hugging

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Refusal to participate in the study
  • Maternal disease (heart disease, diabetes, etc.)
  • Having a preterm or postterm pregnancy
  • Undergoing an emergency cesarean section during follow-up
  • Having a fetal malformation (anencephaly, Down syndrome, etc.)
  • Not answering the questions in the questionnaire

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Group 1
Hugging
Other: Hugging group,
For the hugging group, hugging sessions will be provided whenever the pregnant woman desires and during contractions, if she wishes, by a close relative (husband, mother, sister, etc.) or midwife. The pregnant woman can be hugged for as long as she wants or for 5-10 minutes.
Experimental: Group 2
Praying
Other: Prayer group

For the prayer group, whenever the pregnant woman wishes, or during contractions if she wishes, a close relative (husband, mother, sister, etc.) or midwife will recite a prayer of the pregnant woman's choice, if she has one; if she does not have a preferred prayer, the first 5 verses of Surah Al-Inshiqaq will be recited:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

  1. When the sky is split asunder,
  2. And obeys the command of its Lord,
  3. When the earth is stretched out flat,
  4. And casts forth what is within it,
  5. And obeys the command of its Lord, every person will be confronted with what they have done! To be recited together
Experimental: Group 3
Hugging and Praying
Other: Hugging and Praying group
The Hugging and Praying group will perform both hugging and praying together with the woman.
No Intervention: Group 4
CONTROL

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Information Form
Time Frame: Before starting the first session average 8 months
This form, prepared by the researcher in line with the literature, inquires about the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants.
Before starting the first session average 8 months
Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
Time Frame: average 8 months
It is a one-dimensional scale that objectively assesses a pregnant woman's perception of pain. It allows some values that cannot be measured numerically to be converted into numerical values. In 1921, Hayes and Peterson argued that emotional levels could be expressed on lines. The VAS was first developed and used by Bond and Pilowsky in 1966. The VAS is a 100 mm (10 cm) ruler used to quantitatively determine pain intensity, with one end representing painlessness (0 = no pain) and the other end representing the most severe pain (10 = severe pain). The patient marks any point between the two points that corresponds to the severity of their pain. The distance between the end of the scale representing painlessness and the point marked by the patient is measured with a ruler and recorded in centimeters. This numerical value indicates the pregnant woman's pain intensity. 0 cm = No pain, 0.53 cm = Mild pain, 3.5-6.5 = Moderate (Ergin, 2013; Aslan, 2006; Mucuk, 2009).
average 8 months
Traumatic Birth Perception Scale
Time Frame: average 8 months
TThe Traumatic Birth Perception Scale (TBRS), developed by Yalnız et al. in 2016, is a thirteen-item, unidimensional Likert-type separation scale (Yalnız et al., 2016). Scores range from 0 to 10 for all items not requiring reverse scoring. The minimum scale score is 0 and the maximum is 130. The total scale score ranges from 0 to 26, indicating very low levels of perception of traumatic birth; 27 to 52, indicating low levels; 53 to 78, indicating moderate levels; 79 to 104, indicating high levels; and 105 to 130, indicating very high levels of perception of traumatic birth. The scale's Cronbach's alpha coefficient is .89 (Yalnız et al., 2016).
average 8 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
NURTEN ÖZÇALKAP

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Agri Ibrahim Cecen University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Nurten Özçalkap, Ağri İbrahim Çeçen Universty
  • Study Chair: SİBEL YÜCETÜRK, Asist. Prof., SİNOP UNIVERSTY
  • Study Director: AYŞE Çuvadar, Assot Prof., KARABUK UNIVERTY

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 30, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
November 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 28, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 22, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 23, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 18, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2025/38 (Other Identifier: HATAY MUSTAFA KEMAL UNIVERSITY)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

we don't share individual participant data with other researchers

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on The Effect of Hugging and Praying on Traumatic Birth Perception, Pain, and Anxiety

Clinical Trials on Hugging group,

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings