EMaPP trial

Pelvic girdle pain is common during pregnancy. However, for some women it continues for longer than expected after giving birth and can cause difficulty in everyday activities such as walking, rolling in bed, and caring for your child. Rigid pelvic belts are often used to manage this condition but can be uncomfortable to wear. Customised pelvic support shorts, which are made of Lycra material, offer an alternative with the potential for improved comfort and effectiveness.
Our research team has previously tested the support shorts in a randomised controlled trial of women with pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. The support shorts were more effective than a rigid pelvic belt. Our team have also studied the support shorts in a group of eight women with persistent pelvic girdle pain following pregnancy where we found the shorts showed some promise in improving pain. 
We now need to test this in a larger sample to better understand whether these support shorts have promise as an intervention before a much larger national clinical trial is undertaken 

The EMaPP trial aims find out if wearing customised pelvic support shorts alongside standard physiotherapy care (advice and exercise), demonstrates promise as a treatment in managing persistent pelvic girdle pain in women following childbirth. 
It will involve 60 women with pelvic girdle pain following birth. They will be recruited from physiotherapy departments, women’s health services, GP surgeries and via social media forums. Women will be randomly allocated to one of two groups:

Women will attend two physiotherapy appointments approximately 7-10 days apart and will be involved with the trial for a total of 24 weeks (completing online questionnaire at set time points) 
At the end of the trial we would like to understand women’s views on the running of the trial and comfort of the shorts. We will do this through short interviews at the end of the trial with one of the research team.

 Pelvic girdle pain describes pain in the joints that make up your pelvic girdle. The discomfort is often felt over the pubic bone at the front, below your tummy or across one or both sides of your low back.

To take part you will need to be:

Your eligibility to take part will be assessed through a number of stages. You will begin by speaking with our research team over the phone to check that you are meeting the above criteria. This will be followed by a teleconference call where you will go through some physical tests with the researcher to check that your pain is coming from the pelvic girdle.

If you are eligible after the telephone and video conference assessments, we will ask for your consent to take part in the study. 

To take part in this study you will need to live in Plymouth, Milton Keynes or Airedale, UK. 

The study is being run through the University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Airedale NHS Foundation Trust.

Recruitment of participants commenced on 4th October 2021. If you live in the regions stated above and are interested in the study, you can let us know at emapp@plymouth.ac.uk