Food, Pregnancy and Me - Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Food, Pregnancy, & Me: Exploring food insecurity in pregnancy in the UK to inform future Public Health intervention needs
IRAS ID
326070
Contact name
Nicola Heslehurst
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
Background:
Food insecurity is when someone struggles to afford or access enough food and affects 1 in 6 people in the UK. This can affect the food they eat and their health. During pregnancy, food is important for both mother and baby’s health. However, research from the USA shows food insecure pregnant women have inadequate diets increased risks of various pregnancy outcomes, including depression and the baby being born too early. This increases costs for maternity services, wider health services, and society. However, little is known about food insecurity during pregnancy in the UK.Aim:
This research will identify food insecurity levels during pregnancy in the North East and West Midlands; how this impacts on diet and pregnancy health; the costs to maternity services and wider healthcare; and explore women’s experiences and support needs.Research methods:
We will:
1. Ask 601 pregnant people in Gateshead and Coventry to answer questions on food insecurity, their diet and health, and link these to anonymised information routinely collected by maternity services. This will help us identify how many people need support, and which areas of their own and their baby’s health and well-being most need support.
2. We will interview 40 food insecure people who have completed the questionnaire to explore how this affected them during their pregnancy, and what help and support they might find most useful. This will help us get a better understanding of what difficulties they face, and how complex these are.
How we will use this research and who will be involved:
We will use all this information to make recommendations for a strategy to support those with food insecurity during pregnancy. We will work with researchers, maternity services, local authorities, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations, and members of the public to develop the recommendations together.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NE/0027
Date of REC Opinion
4 Apr 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion