Trauma Informed Care Training and Shared Reflection for Perinatal Care Providers

BACKGROUND: Trauma is widespread and impacts both mental and physical health. Trauma informed care (TIC) is particularly important for perinatal patients, but few studies have explored the best way to provide training and affect practice change for perinatal staff and clinicians. OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of a longitudinal workshop series and shared reflection on trauma informed care on perinatal staff and clinician response. METHODS: We conducted a year-long workshop series on TIC to educate all perinatal staff and clinicians at our urban academic institution. Using the Schon Theory of Reflective Practice framework, we conducted qualitative interviews with participants at the conclusion of the series to evaluate how participants reflected, learned, and changed their practices based on our series. We analyzed interview data with inductive and deductive coding and thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants identified 4 main themes: (1) importance of multidisciplinary team reflection and discussion to facilitate trauma informed approaches to care, (2) need to identify and address systemic and structural barriers hindering TIC, (3) need to acknowledge and reflect on self-care to promote and sustain the practice of TIC, and (4) acknowledging human dignity as core to TIC. CONCLUSION: Shared reflection in a multidisciplinary setting facilitated TIC skill building and allowed participants to apply what they learned into clinical practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: A longitudinal curriculum combined with shared reflection can improve TIC for perinatal patients.