AI-Supported Video Education in Episiotomy Care

The Effect of an Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Video Education Program on Episiotomy Wound Healing, Pain, and Dyspareunia: A Randomized Controlled Trial"

Although the postpartum period is generally considered a positive experience, obstetric interventions such as episiotomy may lead to significant maternal health problems. Episiotomy, a surgical incision performed on the perineum during the second stage of labor, remains widely used despite World Health Organization recommendations to limit its rate. Episiotomy-related complications, including pain, infection, bleeding, and dyspareunia, can negatively affect wound healing, quality of life, and postpartum sexual health. Proper episiotomy wound care and education are therefore essential components of postpartum care. This study aims to evaluate the effect of an artificial intelligence-supported video education on episiotomy wound healing and postpartum sexual quality of life. The findings are expected to contribute to improved postpartum care practices and guide future research in this field.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Postpartum Perineal Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: AI-Assisted Episiotomy Care Video Group; Other: Control

Detailed Description

Although the postpartum period is generally considered a positive experience for mothers, obstetric interventions such as episiotomy may lead to various health problems. Episiotomy, defined as a strategic surgical incision made in the perineum during the second stage of labor, remains a fundamental obstetric intervention (WHO, 2018). Despite the World Health Organization's recommendation to reduce episiotomy rates in normal vaginal births to 10%, this procedure is still performed in approximately 30-50% of women (WHO, 2018), and post-episiotomy perineal discomfort has been reported in 42% of women (Roma et al., 2023).

Episiotomy may result in bleeding, infection, and postpartum pain associated with an increased risk of dyspareunia, thereby negatively affecting women's quality of life and sexual health (Hartinah et al., 2021). Minimizing these adverse outcomes requires preventing chronic pain, supporting mothers in effective pain management, preventing constipation, monitoring urinary retention, and reducing the risk of infection (Hartinah et al., 2021).

Evidence indicates that keeping the episiotomy wound dry, compared with sitz baths, reduces postpartum pain, accelerates wound healing, and positively influences postpartum sexual function (Alirezaei et al., 2024; Roma et al., 2023; Brezeanu et al., 2025; Aydemir et al., 2024). Therefore, education on episiotomy wound care constitutes a critical component of postpartum care.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of an artificial intelligence-supported video education on episiotomy wound healing and postpartum sexual quality of life. Additionally, the study seeks to determine the impact of AI-supported video education on episiotomy wound healing, pain, and dyspareunia among postpartum women and to provide a foundation for future research in this field.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 70
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

18 years of age and older,

• No high-risk pregnancy (no systemic disease, no smoking, no postpartum complications),
• Gestational age 37-42 weeks,
• Single vaginal delivery of live birth,
• Mediolateral episiotomy,
• Not taking any medication,
• No other lacerations besides episiotomy (anal sphincter injury, 3rd degree perineal laceration).
• Single vaginal delivery of live birth or single vaginal delivery without episiotomy, age between 18-35 years, sexually active and healthy
• Primiparous pregnant women

Exclusion Criteria:

• • Mothers who have had multiple, stillbirth, or anomalous births,

  • Mothers who refuse home visits will be excluded.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: INTERVENTION 1; Women allocated to the intervention group will receive an AI-assisted video-based educational intervention on episiotomy care in addition to routine postpartum care.	Behavioral: AI-Assisted Episiotomy Care Video Group; Women in the intervention group will receive routine postpartum care and an AI-assisted educational video about effective breastfeeding within the first 30 minutes after birth. The video includes information on the importance of early breastfeeding, correct breastfeeding positions, and techniques to increase milk production.
Other: Control; Routine postpartum care	Other: Control; Women in the control group will receive routine postpartum and episiotomy care provided by midwives before discharge, in accordance with standard hospital practices. No additional educational or AI-assisted video intervention will be provided to this group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
(REEDA Scale)	Episiotomy wound healing will be evaluated using the REEDA Scale, which assesses five components: redness, edema, ecchymosis, discharge, and approximation of wound edges.	Postpartum Day 1, Day 3, Day 5, Day 7, and Day 14
Episiotomy wound healing score (REEDA Scale)	Episiotomy wound healing will be assessed using the REEDA Scale, which evaluates five components: redness, edema, ecchymosis, discharge, and approximation of wound edges	Postpartum day 1, day 3, day 5, day 7, and day 14
Perineal pain intensity (Visual Analog Scale - VAS)	Perineal pain intensity will be measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), a 10-cm horizontal line ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst imaginable pain). Participants will indicate their perceived pain intensity on the scale.	Postpartum day 1, day 3, day 5, day 7, and day 14

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Postpartum sexual function and dyspareunia score (Carol Postpartum Sexual Function and Dyspareunia Scale)	Postpartum sexual function and dyspareunia will be evaluated using the Carol Postpartum Sexual Function and Dyspareunia Scale, which assesses readiness for sexual activity, vulvar discomfort, pain during vaginal intercourse, and pain after intercourse	Postpartum 3 months after resumption of vaginal intercourse

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 2, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 19, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 5, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 6, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 5, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Wound Healing; Artificial Intelligence; Episiotomy; Postpartum Care; Sexual Quality of Life
• Other Study ID Numbers: Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Ünive

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No