Antenatal anxiety intervention: feasibility and acceptability

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  An evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability and of an intervention for pregnant women with symptoms of mild to moderate anxiety.

• IRAS ID

  172231

• Contact name

  Helen Spiby

• Contact email

  Helen.spiby@nottingham.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Nottingham

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 0 months, 0 days

• Research summary

  Excessive anxiety in pregnancy is associated with a number of negative health outcomes for women and their babies. This includes an increased chance of babies being born too early or of lower birth weight. Women’s anxiety during pregnancy may have impacts on children’s behaviour and emotional wellbeing up to four years of age. Antenatal anxiety also makes it more likely that women will experience depression during pregnancy and in the postnatal period. There are suggestions that methods of support such as psychological therapies may help women with symptoms of anxiety in pregnancy, however there is a lack of good quality studies reporting interventions and effective interventions have not yet been identified for pregnant women.
  The aim of the feasibility study is to determine the acceptability and practicality of an intervention to support pregnant women with symptoms of mild to moderate anxiety. Participants will be recruited from two community antenatal clinics. Participants will be women attending for an appointment at approximately 16 weeks of pregnancy. Participation will last for twelve to fifteen weeks from enrolment. During the study participants will continue to receive usual antenatal care.

  The intervention sessions will be delivered in three stages:
  • Stage 1 – One to one pre-group meeting with the midwife intervention provider
  • Stage 2 – Group sessions facilitated by the intervention provider
  • Stage 3 – Selected self-help materials (publically available materials) to be completed between group sessions

  There will be two groups, each consisting of eight to ten women and each session will last for 90 minutes. Self-help materials have been selected for their relevance in a UK context, for anxiety in pregnancy and are either cognitive based skills or mindfulness meditation and relaxation skills. After the intervention sessions, participants will complete anxiety, depression and quality of life self-report instruments and be invited to attend an interview to determine their experiences of taking part.

• REC name

  East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  16/EM/0041

• Date of REC Opinion

  2 Mar 2016

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion