Perinatal Mental Health in Rural North Yorkshire

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Perinatal Mental Health in Rural North Yorkshire: exploring the needs and experiences of mothers and service providers

• IRAS ID

  212364

• Contact name

  Raghu Lingam

• Contact email

  raghu.lingam@newcastle.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Newcastle University

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 6 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Recent research evidence suggests that over one in ten women will experience depression or anxiety in pregnancy, and almost one in five will experience depression or anxiety in the year following childbirth. This can lead to negative health and social outcomes for women, children and families. Access to both appropriate and timely professional and social support is extremely important. For some mothers, living in remote rural areas is likely to mean they are poorly connected and in some cases isolated from services and other support networks.
  As a central tenet of the NHS five year forward plan (2014), enabling good mental health for pregnant women and mothers within the perinatal period (pregnancy and a year after birth) is a health priority nationally and locally. Importantly, rurality is a significant concern relating to perinatal mental health in rural areas of England and Wales, as living in rural areas could potentially lead to health inequalities for mothers and children. However, there is limited work looking at the scale of the problem in rural areas and the needs and experiences of mothers and service providers. This study aims to use North Yorkshire as a case study to develop understanding of maternal mental health in rural communities. It will use quantitative and qualitative methods to meet the aims. Three main study phases are proposed:

  1.A survey of the mental health of mothers in North Yorkshire in pregnancy and after the birth of their baby.
  2.Semi-structured interviews with mothers in the maternal perinatal period and mothers with previous experience of perinatal mental health within the last three years to seek their views and experiences of maternal mental health services.
  3.Focus groups with health professionals and other community and voluntary service providers working with mothers in the perinatal period.

• REC name

  North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  16/NE/0358

• Date of REC Opinion

  15 Dec 2016

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion