An interventional study of Control and AI-Assisted Episiotomy Care Video Group in Postpartum Perineal Pain, sponsored by Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. Not yet recruiting. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 35 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-03-06.
Sponsored by Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
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.
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.
10,054 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain; 1,649 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 70 is close to the median of 66 across 8,493 interventional studies indexed under Pain.
Browse Pain studies →Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University is the lead sponsor of 48 studies on the registry; 17 are open to participants now.
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18 years of age and older,
Exclusion Criteria:
Mothers who have had multiple, stillbirth, or anomalous births,
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
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.
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.
(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.
Time frame: 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
Time frame: 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.
Time frame: Postpartum day 1, day 3, day 5, day 7, and day 14
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
Time frame: Postpartum 3 months after resumption of vaginal intercourse
No study locations are listed for this record.
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Apr 2026; primary completion for May 2026, 1 month later.
Of 3,731 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Pain, half reached primary completion within 10 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 4 and three quarters within 23. This study's planned 1 month is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 3,830 studies reached it within 10 months; a quarter within 4 and three quarters within 23.
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This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Mar 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University