Listening to mothers’ needs; Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving mental wellbeing during pregnancy: listening to mothers’ needs
IRAS ID
287272
Contact name
Patricia/P.A. Zunszain
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Good mental wellbeing during pregnancy and in the two years following birth is so important. Research shows how negative experiences during pregnancy can impact women following birth and also later in life, and the effects can even extend to their babies, negatively affecting their emotional, cognitive and physical development throughout their own lives. Thus, there is a demand for early protective interventions that specifically target pregnancy. Importantly, more easy-to-understand information needs to be available to both mothers and service care providers to help promote general psychological wellbeing and encourage help-seeking during pregnancy. However, before being able to provide such information, we need to more fully understand what information women want and need first.
Therefore, the purpose of this 6-month qualitative pilot study is to understand more fully the types of information that pregnant women receive during their pregnancy and to evaluate whether pregnant women find this information helpful, or not. This study is also particularly interested in trying to understand what information women would want to receive during pregnancy that would help to improve overall wellbeing, and discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced a women’s pregnancy journey and the type of information that they now receive, or may want to receive in future.
All English-speaking, pregnant, parous women from all backgrounds and over 18 years of age will be eligible. Participants will have the option of taking part in an online individual interview and/or participating in one of two online focus groups, consisting of 6-8 other pregnant women. All interviews and focus groups will last approximately one hour and will be held on either Microsoft Teams or Zoom - both free, secure online platforms. Participants will be recruited from Southwark, Lambeth, Bromley, Croydon and Lewisham via King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, where future intervention work will be conducted.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
20/NS/0132
Date of REC Opinion
13 Nov 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion