Self-reported mental disorders in pregnancy in Northern Ireland
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Self-reported mental disorders and associated factors in pregnancy: a secondary analysis of data from the Northern Ireland Maternity System (NIMATS)
IRAS ID
206445
Contact name
Ciaran Mulholland
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University Belfast
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The Northern Ireland Maternity System (NIMATS) is a regional electronic data recording system used by midwives to record information about all women who present to maternity services in Northern Ireland. It was first introduced in the 1980s to gather data on all women presenting to maternity services across the region.
At various points in a woman’s pregnancy midwives obtain information about the woman’s demographic profile, their current health, past medical/ obstetric and psychiatric history and family history. Much of the data is recorded at the booking appointment when the woman first attends maternity services, but some is also recorded at the point of admission to and discharge from the maternity ward (for example, information about the birth itself such as the mode of delivery).
Over the past approximately five years, women have routinely been asked about a personal or family history of several severe mental disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorder, depression and postnatal psychosis. This study aims to obtain data from the NIMATS database related to such disorders in order to inform service provision in Northern Ireland. In the first instance this would include obtaining accurate figures for the number of women each year who report a history of these disorders. However we also seek to examine the data to determine if a history of severe mental illness is statistically associated with pregnancy outcomes as well as other socio-demographic and clinical variables.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0268
Date of REC Opinion
6 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion