Surrey Perinatal

Amid growing evidence of the mental health difficulties that can be experienced by both new mothers and new fathers, this collaborative project used original research findings to develop professional practice and create resources for parents.

Start date

2020

End date

Ongoing

Overview

Ranjana and Paul had been researching and writing about perinatal wellbeing for the last few years. Ranjana鈥檚 work on mothers鈥 perinatal wellbeing and the role of digital technologies led her to approach Paul 鈥 who had been working on fatherhood 鈥 to do joint work on new fathers鈥 perinatal mental health. As their work on fathers and mothers progressed, they decided to bring these interests together, by producing parent and professional-facing resources from their work in association with national partners such as the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) and the National Childbirth Trust (NCT).

Amid growing evidence of the mental health difficulties that can be experienced by both mothers and fathers in the perinatal period, the need for appropriate information and support (not least for neglected or hard to reach groups such as fathers and migrant mothers) is acute. Our proposed activities centred on improving information and support through enhancements to practitioner understandings and practice and the production of on and offline information resources for parents.

Our Aims

1. We aimed to inform and engage with key antenatal and postnatal professionals in order to enhance their support for parents with respect to perinatal mental health;

2. We aimed to enhance the provision of well-informed direct communication about perinatal mental health issues with new parents via on and offline materials;

3. We aimed to improve communication and support related to especially neglected or difficult to reach groups, including fathers and migrant mothers.

We developed a plan of action which addressed two specific aims of the ESRC IAA.

First, we aimed to 鈥expedite capacity development within and outside the institution, through training and skills development, to ensure the sustainability of activity and practices learned during the lifetime of the IA鈥. Second, we paidattention, through a range of material and practical means, the aims of the ESRC IAA to generate impact which 鈥through coproduction of research with users, facilitated by early/greater opportunities for dialogue and networking with external partners and stakeholders鈥.

Addressing these aims, our work has spoken to . The first 鈥 instrumental impact 鈥 has dealt with 鈥溾渃hanges to policy, practice or service provision鈥 and the second 鈥 capacity-building 鈥 has related to 鈥渢echnical and skill development鈥, both of which our proposed agenda have incorporated.

What we have produced

Together with our partner organisations, we translated our research on mothers鈥 and fathers鈥 perinatal mental health into workshops, infographics, factographics, evidence reviews, training and parent-facing material which all aimed to better support perinatal mental health.

Team

Ranjana Das profile image

Professor Ranjana Das

Professor

Paul Hodkinson profile image

Professor Paul Hodkinson

Professor of Sociology

Outputs

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

 

Our Projects

New fathers, mental health and digital communication

, and led jointly by Paul and Ranjana (2018-2019), this project considered the often-neglected area of new fathers鈥 struggles with mental health difficulties, and the role of digital media as part of coping practices. This , and in , and has had its findings launched as a .

Now written up into our new book, New Fathers, Mental Health and Digital Communication, the work identified lack of information and support opportunities for such fathers as key to their struggles.

WATCH: video introduction to our work
 

Technologies in maternal mental health

, funded by the British Academy was led by Ranjana (2016-2018) and considered the increasingly important role of technologies in maternal mental health. This work has recently been published as a , and has been disseminated via 4 journal articles and numerous talks. Some of the journal papers are linked and .

The research highlights the range of socially induced pressures and anxieties to which mothers are subject and gaps in care and support.

 

Migrant mothers and mental health communication

Funded by the Wellcome Trust and led by Ranjana in collaboration with colleagues from the 麻豆视频鈥檚 Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (Louise Davies and Nadine Page) this work looked specifically at the . Addressing an area in which existing knowledge is limited, this work has drawn a significant amount of interest from practitioners such as the NCT and the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) and has been published as .

This work has highlighted the diverse and particular challenges faced by migrant mothers, in addition to an emphasis on cultural roadblocks, and communicative difficulties with healthcare professionals and/or impediments in the way of seeking and finding support.

 

New mothers and COVID 19

The fourth project, conducted with funding from the 麻豆视频, was led by Ranjana, and looked at the impacts of the . This work has highlighted urgent recommendations for maternity and pregnancy as the pandemic progresses.

 

Our Publications

Individually and jointly, Ranjana and Paul have been working on various aspects of perinatal mental health. What follows is a full list of their publications 鈥 books, journal papers and a range of non-academic writings 鈥 on the subject of mothers鈥 and fathers鈥 perinatal mental health.

Books

Hodkinson, P. & Das, R. (2021). . London: Palgrave

 

This book analyses in-depth, qualitative material on new fathers鈥 experiences of mental health difficulties after having a baby and, in particular, their use of online communications as part of their coping practices. At the heart of the book are the ways discourses of masculinity and fatherhood can exacerbate fathers鈥 difficulties and make communicating with others particularly challenging 鈥 and the extent to which digital media may provide opportunities to negotiate or contest such discourses through engaging with information and others, disclosing struggles and seeking support.

We examine the digital mediation of emotions around paternal mental health, the emergence of new, networked paternal intimacies, and new forms of connection and disconnection which shape, resource, and potentially empower fathers communicating about mental health.

Das, R. (2019). . London: Routledge

Early Motherhood in Digital Societies offers a nuanced understanding of what the digital turn has meant for new mothers in an intense and critical period before and after they have a baby, often called the 鈥榩erinatal鈥 period. The book looks at an array of digital communication and content by drawing on an extensive research project involving in-depth interviews with new mothers in the United Kingdom and online case studies. 

The book asks: what does the use of technology mean in the perinatal context and what implications might it have for maternal wellbeing? The book argues for a balanced and context-sensitive approach to the digital in the context of perinatality and maternal wellbeing in the critical perinatal period.

 

Journal Articles

  1. Das, R. (2021). Women鈥檚 experienc Journal of Health Visiting, 9(7), 297-303.
  2. Das, R. & Beszlag, D. (2021). . Journal of Health Visiting Online First.
  3. Das, R. & Hodkinson, P. (2020). . New Media and Society
  4. Das, R., & Hodkinson, P. (2019). T. Social Media+ Society, 5(2), 2056305119846488.
  5. Das, R. (2018). . Communication, Culture and Critique 
  6. Das, R. (2018). . Communication Review.
  7. Das, R. (2017). . Social Media + Society.

  8. Das, R. (2017). . European Journal of Cultural Studies

     

Reports

1. Das, R. (2020).. Guildford, Surrey. 

2. Das, R. & Hodkinson, P. (2019). . Guildford, Surrey. 

3. Das, R. (Eds.) (2019). . Guildford, Surrey. 

 

Select Committee Evidence

1. Das, R. (2020). .

2. Das, R. & Hodkinson, P. (2019).

 

Blogs

  1. Das, R. (2020).. BSA Everyday Society. 
  2. Das, R. (2020). . Centre for Research on Families and Relationships.
  3. Das, R.  & Hodkinson, P. (2020).. Discover Society.
  4. Das, R. (2020).. Discover Society.
  5. . Surrey Sociology Blog.
  6. Das, R. (2019). . Surrey Sociology Blog.
  7. Das, R. (2019).  Surrey Sociology Blog.
  8. Das, R. (2019). . Surrey Sociology Blog.
  9. Das, R. (2019). 鈥 . Surrey Sociology Blog.
  10. Das, R. & Hodkinson, P. (2019). . Surrey Sociology Blog. 
  11. Das, R. (2019). . Surrey Sociology Blog. 
  12. Das, R. & Hodkinson, P. (2019). . Blog for NCT.
  13. Das, R. (2018). . Surrey Sociology Blog. 
  14. Das, R & Hodkinson, P. (2018). . Blog for Surrey Sociology.
  15. Das, R. (2018). . Blog for Parenting for Digital Futures, LSE.
  16. Das, R. & Hodkinson, P. (2018).  new fathers鈥 mental health. Blog for Surrey Sociology

Resources produced

Outputs from this project

Here is a quick 1 pager with all our outputs produced as part of this partnership!

 

Factographics:

Working with the iHV, we have developed three interactive, digital 鈥榝actographics鈥 oriented to groups or areas with a previous resource-deficiency, namely, new fathers, mothers from South Asian communities and parents who had a baby during the COVID19 pandemic. Based on our research findings, these resources were produced collaboratively via initial discussions at an iHV Champions forum and further development via two meetings of a panel comprised of parents and professionals. The 鈥榝actographics鈥 were presented by us at the iHV national conference in April 2021, have been launched in June 2021 and are available to both parents and professionals via the iHV web site, the primary source of information for UK health visitors and regularly visited by thousands of parents and other professionals. On launch, the factographics will also be prominently featured on iHV social media. Here they are below for you to browse and share!

Factographic: . 

Factographic: . 

Factographic: . 

For an overview of the collaborative, co-creative process behind these factographics 鈥 watch this at the IHV conference in 2021.

 

Evidence Reviews

We have undertaken 4 commissioned 鈥淓vidence Reviews鈥 for the National Childbirth Trust. Through producing evidence reviews oriented towards previously neglected subjects relating to fathers and migrant mothers, these reviews will contribute to the update and development of parent-facing content on the NCT web site, which is one of the most high profile sources of parent-support information in the UK (accessed by 2,952,120 people between November 2018 and October 2019). The reviews can be accessed below:

 

Practitioner Development

We have delivered direct practitioner training. Our June 2021 webinar for current NCT practitioners centred on converting their work on fathers and mental health into enhancements to NCT antenatal courses, which are attended by 100,000 new parents in the UK every year. The webinar was accompanied by a factsheet, which was distributed more widely within the NCT community. We also delivered workshops in June and September 2021 for trainee NCT practitioners studying at the University of Worcester. In June 2021 we delivered educational content to trainee midwives and Health Visitors at the 麻豆视频 in a session on an Early Intervention Module in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Programme for Health Visitors and School Nurses.

June 2021: Session in Early Intervention Module in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Programme for Health Visitors and School Nurses

Paul and Ranjana鈥檚 session on 3rd June 2021

 

Knowledge Exchange

Supporting New Parents Amidst COVID and Beyond: End of project conference

On 15th September, 2021, we hosted our fully virtual end of project conference which brought together leading academics and practitioners in perinatal mental health and the early years, for a forward-looking half-day conference centred on supporting the wellbeing of new parents.

The conference marked the end of the Surrey Perinatal Impact Partnership, a one-year ESRC funded partnership between the 麻豆视频, the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) and National Childbirth Trust (NCT). Led by Dr Ranjana Das and Dr Paul Hodkinson, the project has pooled together academic research and professional expertise to enhance support for the wellbeing of new parents through development of resources and engagement with a range of perinatal practitioners.

The event included a showcase of the work completed during the project, complete with reflections from those involved, while also bringing together a range experts to provide a broader examination of research, evidence and professional experience on the wellbeing of new parents.

 

Launch Event: New Fathers, Mental Health and Digital Communication (book publication)

 

Perinatal Mental Health during the COVID19 pandemic: Webinar hosted by the Maternal Family and Child Health Cluster at Surrey, March 2021

View here:

Contribution to the NCT鈥檚 Annual General Meeting 2020

Contribution to webinar on: Impact of Covid-19 on families: a focus on new parents, children, and people with learning disabilities, with reflections from professional practice, March 2021

ESRC Festival of Social Science Event: Becoming a Parent in a Pandemic, November 2020

Becoming a Parent鈥.in a Pandemic 鈥 organised by Ranjana and Paul 鈥 as an ESRC Festival of Social Science event, drew upon their joint research and showcased 8 external speakers from leading practitioner, policy and public avenues. Speakers came from the National Childbirth Trust, the Institute of Health Visiting, Dorset MIND, The Fatherhood Institute, PND Hour, the Lancashire NHS Trust and the ROSHNI2 project, the Universities of Surrey, Bournemouth and East Anglia, and included new parents of 2020 as speakers. The event had approximately 500 sign-ups and close to 300 attendees on the day, generating a significant amount of live audience engagement, and social media feedback, engagement and commentary on the #FOSSParents2020 hashtag. The full event recording is available for viewing below.

 

 

Our blog for the Voices newsletter for the Institute of Health Visiting, October 2020, on the occasion of World Mental Health Day

 

Our research synthesis delivered at the September Forum of the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV), September 2020

This talk addressed an audience from a health visiting and maternity background but also including some mental health professionals and parent representatives.


 

Research themes

Find out more about our research at Surrey: