About The Questionnaire

The City Birth Trauma Scale was developed by Susan Ayers and colleagues at City, University of London. It was published in 2018 and is the first scale specifically designed to assess traumatic birth and PTSD according to the diagnostic criteria outlined in DSM-5. Since then, versions for birth partners/fathers and maternity staff have been developed and validated, and a short version to use for screening will be available from January 2025.

​

The scale has 29 items which assess traumatic birth using DSM-5 stressor criterion A, symptoms of PTSD, and whether a person meets diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Symptoms measured by the scale are: re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance symptoms, hyperarousal symptoms, and negative cognitions and mood. The scale has 2-items on dissociation to assess the subtype of PTSD with dissociation, as well as 1-item on differential diagnosis (e.g. due to medication or illness).

​

Psychometric studies suggest the scale has robust psychometric properties and good internal consistency across different translations. The scale has been translated into over 30 languages. It is freely available open access and can be downloaded from this website.