Experience of Perinatal Mental Health

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    What is the experience of women receiving a psychiatric diagnosis during the perinatal period?

  • IRAS ID

    252763

  • Contact name

    Caroline Caddy

  • Contact email

    cxc879@student.bham.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Birmingham

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 4 months, 25 days

  • Research summary

    The aim of the current research is to explore the experience of women receiving a psychiatric diagnosis during the perinatal period. The perinatal period is defined as the time from conception to one year post-birth.

    This research will involve recruiting up to eight women across three perinatal mental health teams within Birmingham and Warwickshire. To be included in the study, women must have received any psychiatric diagnosis within the perinatal period, and they must not have a history of mental health difficulties in the ten years prior to the pregnancy.

    The participants will take part in individual interviews lasting up to 90 minutes. The interviews will be semi-structured, which means that a framework of pre-prepared questions is used, but the format is open to allow any new ideas generated in the interview to be followed and explored. The interviews will be analysed by the researcher using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, which is a method that aims to understand how an individual makes sense their experiences, such as receiving a psychiatric diagnosis.

    In deepening our understanding of the experience of women receiving a perinatal psychiatric diagnosis, there is an opportunity to identify and develop appropriate support and care for this difficult period.

  • REC name

    West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    19/WM/0089

  • Date of REC Opinion

    25 Mar 2019

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion