Birth experiences of women experiencing postpartum mental illness
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Project title: Birth experiences of women experiencing postpartum mental illnes
IRAS ID
233904
Contact name
Sonia Sangha
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bucks New University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 0 days
Research summary
Birth experiences of women experiencing postpartum mental illness
Little is known about the birth experience of mothers experiencing significant postpartum mental illness. However, an appraisal of these experiences is important to understand any potential role in the development of psychopathology in the woman herself and also any potential birth experience ‘signatures’ which may lead to intergenerational transmission (mother-infant) of significant psychopathology. The notion of ‘trauma-genesis’ in this context is consistent with a number of psychodynamic models and approaches. A problem remains as to how these experiences may be assessed retrospectively in a valid and reliable manner.
Self-report measures are used extensively for assessment, screening and empirical research in a clinical context within mental health.
To be assured of the measurement characteristics of the measure, the tool needs to be validated in the population of interest.
A relatively recent innovation in statistical approaches to instrument evaluation is to use Bayesian statistical approaches to use prior data about a measure to inform the statistical analysis of the group of interest.The Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R; Hollins Martin and Martin, 2014) is a theoretically-anchored multi-dimensional retrospective measure of the experience of childbirth that has been established to be valid and reliable in general population groups.
The proposed study will look at the birth experiences of women in the perinatal mental health care setting using the BSS-R and using a Bayesian approach, will seek to validate the measure in this group.
It would be anticipated that approximately 46 participants will be required to complete the measure for the Bayesian analysis to be conducted.
The findings will then be linked to psychodynamic theory and also provide valuable evidence about the transferability of a validated general population measure to this important clinical population.Inclusion criteria: Perinatal Depression
Seen within 6 months post-natally; ideally within first 2-3 weeks
REC name
London - Brent Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1849
Date of REC Opinion
19 Dec 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion