Life after successful medicalised conception: An IPA study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Life after successful medicalised conception: individuals' experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, emotional well-being and early-parenting.
IRAS ID
288800
Contact name
Anja Wittkowski
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 29 days
Research summary
This study aims to explore the lived experiences of participants’ pregnancy, childbirth, emotional well-being and early parenthood in light of their IVF-assisted conception. IVF is the most commonly used medically assisted conception method, accounting for 93% of fertility cycles; however, it is recognised that the treatment can be physically and emotionally complex which can lead to different experiences of pregnancy and parenting.
This research aims to interview individuals and their partners who have had a child via IVF in the last five years. We aim to recruit individuals that reflect the varied reasons why people seek IVF treatment (e.g. same sex couples, heterosexual couples’ lone parents, genetic pre-implantation). The research aims to understand their experiences of the perinatal period also exploring how they have managed and coped with any associated difficulties. At present, there is a lack of qualitative research exploring this subject area.
The study will employ a qualitative design involving individual semi-structured interviews lasting approximately 60-120 minutes. Participants will also be asked to complete a short demographic questionnaire.
Local NHS hospitals, private fertility centres and online support forums will support recruitment into the study. Participants will either self-refer in response to electronic or physical posters or will be identified by clinicians in their clinical care team. People will be interviewed individually and a topic guide will be used to guide the interviews. The interviews will be recorded and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
The findings of this study will be shared with health care professionals. They will be used to help people’s understanding and to inform the delivery of services. Importantly, they will be used to better support people who become pregnant following IVF in the future.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/NW/0458
Date of REC Opinion
15 Jan 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion