Evaluation of a Specialised Counselling Service for Perinatal Bereavement

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.

Outcomes were recorded in 107 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.

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.

Offering a free specialised counselling for parents suffering perinatal loss seems to be associated with an improvement in psychological outcomes. It is possible that it is more effective among a clinical population. However, we are uncertain of the natural history of the psychological problems this group of clients are experiencing. Having a control group would show how much of any natural improvement is due to the therapy; conversely, it is possible that without intervention these problems worsen with time, so a control group could actually amplify the effect.