Mother’s understanding of safe sleep practices V:1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Safely Sleeping? An exploration of mother’s understanding of safe sleep practices and factors that influence reducing risks in their infant’s sleep environment.
IRAS ID
160040
Contact name
Catherine Ellis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Warwick
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 29 days
Research summary
In spite of widespread awareness of the risk factors for sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI), many infants continue to be exposed to a range of risks, and most deaths now occur in situations where risk reduction measures have not been followed. SUDI is also more likely to occur in families with identified vulnerabilities such as young maternal age, low educational achievement, smoking, alcohol and substance use. Families with these characteristics can be described as having a higher risk for SUDI.\nThis qualitative study aims to gain an improved understanding of maternal perceptions of risk-reduction messages in general, and safe sleep messages in particular. \nPregnant women meeting the inclusion criteria will be provided with written information by their midwives between 28 - 35 weeks gestation and invited to participate in the study. Participants will engage in three semi-structured, in-depth interviews, commencing in the ante-natal period and concluding four months after birth. The interviews will explore, from the mothers perspective, how they perceive risk reduction messages and what factors influence their decision making in relation to the choices they make for their infant’s sleep environment and whether these decisions change over time.\nThe key themes identified will be examined in relation to current health education messages and their relevance for this group of mothers. In order to design relevant and effective health education interventions it is necessary to understand what motivates and supports behaviour change in parents where modifiable risk factors are identified and explore relevant media to deliver those messages.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
16/NS/0087
Date of REC Opinion
17 Aug 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion