The lived experiences of severe postnatal psychiatric illness
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the lived experiences of severe postnatal psychiatric illnesses in English speaking South Asian women, living in the UK: A qualitative study.
IRAS ID
220825
Contact name
Qulsom Fazil
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
There is evidence to support that common mental illnesses (such as depression), severe mental illnesses and mild to moderate postnatal psychiatric illnesses exist in South Asian populations. Research suggests that cultural and social backgrounds contributes towards explanatory models of mental illness. And so, a holistic understanding of mental illness is important in helping clinicians reaching diagnosis and setup management plans for the patient. There remains a lack of research of severe postnatal psychiatric illnesses in the South Asian population and to our knowledge, no study has explored the lived experiences of severe psychiatric illnesses postnatally in South Asian women, living in the UK. We aim to deepen understanding of the experiences of South Asian women who have been diagnosed with a severe postnatal psychiatric illness and to also understand their overall experiences of Perinatal Mental Health services.
The study participants will be recruited from two Perinatal Mental Health services, who provide care and treatment to women experiencing a severe postnatal psychiatric illness. Eligible participants are women who are able to fully provide informed consent, are South Asian female, clinically diagnosed with a severe postnatal psychiatric illness within the first year after childbirth, 18 years of age or above and able to speak sufficient English. Participants will undergo a one-to-one, face-to-face, in-depth interview, which will aim to last between 60 and 90 minutes. A convenient time and location for the interview to take place will be mutually arranged between the researcher and participant.
This project is self-funded by the doctoral researcher student.
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/WM/0350
Date of REC Opinion
23 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion