In addition to adversely impacting the mother's health and wellbeing, psychological distress in pregnancy increases the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes, compromises infant socioemotional development and bonding, and heightens maternal and child vulnerability in the postpartum period.
Promoting psychological wellbeing and preventing distress among pregnant women is an important public health goal.
Mindfulness and compassion-based interventions show potential for prevention and early intervention for perinatal distress. As there is an established need for accessible, scalable, flexible, and low-cost interventions, there is increased interest in the digital delivery of these programs, known as digital mental health interventions (DMHIs).
The Mums Minds Matter study is determining the uptake and application of mental health skills comparing three stress reduction training programs; mindfulness, loving-kindness and compassion and progressive muscle relaxation.
Objectives for the study are:
- To compare willingness to engage among pregnant women randomly assigned to three different intervention conditions.
- To assess factors influencing willingness to engage, including perceived barriers, facilitators, and attitudes to engagement.
- To determine whether those who are willing to engage differ from those who are not willing to engage based on sociodemographic factors (age, household income, number of children, occupational status), psychosocial factors (psychiatric history, current distress) and health service engagement (current and past experience with well-being programs).
This study will assess different barriers and facilitators described by pregnant women that influence willingness to engage in different types of online wellbeing perinatal programs. The information gained from this study will help to determine:
- Which interventions will be used by the most people
- Which programs will be undertaken by which women (helping to target women in higher distress)
- Recommendations on the design and development of future mindfulness and wellbeing apps
The Mums Minds Matter project is being conducted at the Joondalup Health Campus in collaboration with The Kids Research Institute Australia, and researchers at the University of Western Australia.
Investigators:
- ORIGINS Co-Director Dr Jackie Davis at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Dr Amy Finlay-Jones at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Associate Professor Jenny Downs at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- ORIGINS Co-Director at The Kids Research Institute Australia and Professor of Paediatrics at Joondalup Health Campus, Desiree Silva
- Honorary Research Fellow Dr Jeneva Ohan at The Kids Research Institute Australia