NEST version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Nurturing and Empowering future parents through Support and Treatment: pregnancy planning for parents with mental illness
IRAS ID
357068
Contact name
Claire Wilson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
People with mental health problems may find it hard to decide when and how to have children. If they do not receive help with preparing for pregnancy, it could affect the development of their baby. This includes future fathers (non-birthing) as well as mothers (birthing). The research question is: what current support is being received for this in mental health services and can an intervention be developed to provide better support for patients? The study will take place in South London and Maudsley (SLaM) and Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (CNTW) community mental health teams and drug and alcohol services.
Workstream 1
People with mental health problems (‘patients’) who are using services (in SLaM and CNTW) will be interviewed individually and clinicians in services will be interviewed individually or as part of a focus group, online or face to face (depending on participant preference); all will be maximum one hour.Workstream 2
Phase one- Patients, their partners and clinicians will be invited to take part in workshops (of up to 90 minutes) to design new interventions to support planning for pregnancy. These will be online or face to face (depending on participant preference). Patients not using SLaM or CNTW services will also be invited to attend the workshops via our third sector partner: Everyturn Mental Health. Clinicians outside of CNTW and SLaM (working in mental health services across the UK) will also be invited to attend the workshops via social media.
Phase two- Other clinicians and patients (in CNTW and SLaM only) who have not taken part in the workshops will be invited to complete a questionnaire (maximum 30 minutes) about their experiences of using the intervention.All discussions will be recorded by video or audio (depending on participant preference). This is a three year programme of research funded by NIHR.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/NW/0349
Date of REC Opinion
12 Dec 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion