Legacies and Futures
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Legacies and Futures: Gestational Parents' Experiences with Vulnerability and Resilience as it Influences Parent and Neonatal Health
IRAS ID
264198
Contact name
Kate Luxion
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2020/02/50, UCL Data Protection Number
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Structural cisgenderism and heterosexism in reproductive healthcare, which assume gestational parents’ are women and/or heterosexual, enables the stressors of stigma and discrimination to “burrow under the skin” during critical windows of foetal development. These stressors affect more than 525,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and/or transgender (LGBTQ+) potential gestational parents in the UK, resulting in preventable higher risk for prenatal complications, such as macrosomia, pre-term birth, and low-birth weight. Vulnerability as a measure of minority stress and systemic exclusion will be assessed for impact alongside multi-level resilience factors (i.e., social connectedness, self-efficacy, etc.). A sample of gestational parents (N=1,100) from three Inner London maternity wards and one ward in Brighton, with University College Hospital as the central site, will participate through an online survey, completed twice, linked to patient electronic health records to form the quantitative dataset. Recruitment will focus on LGBTQ+ gestational parents with a case-matched sample of cisheterosexual respondents. This dataset will examine if resilience and vulnerability influence birth outcomes and neonatal health, potentially interacting in the process. A nested sample (N=30) using qualitative methods (i.e., an at-home journal activity) rounds out the longitudinal health and survey data to include experiences navigating antenatal and postpartum care. Study findings could improve parent and infant health, improving life expectancy and quality while lowering personal and social costs.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/1113
Date of REC Opinion
21 Oct 2020
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion