Mind our Mothers. A wellbeing program for pregnant women, to support flourishing during pregnancy and early motherhood.  — ASN Events
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  3. Mind our Mothers. A wellbeing program for pregnant women, to support flourishing during pregnancy and early motherhood. 

Mind our Mothers. A wellbeing program for pregnant women, to support flourishing during pregnancy and early motherhood.  (#808)

Chloe Lorback 1
  1. Fit to Deliver, Brighton, VIC, Australia

Background

Currently, in Australia, 1 in 5 women will experience poor mental health during the perinatal period. Our current health care model focusses on provision of treatment once a diagnosis is made, with limited focus on prevention, despite the perinatal period being recognised as a high risk time in a women's life for suffering with poor mental health.

Many women also may not meet the criteria for a diagnosis, or their symptoms are missed due to stigma and shame surrounding mental ill-health, so they suffer in silence.

Perinatal mental illness is a significant public health concern, representing significant costs to the community, and negative consequences for both mother and baby.

Aims

Mind Our Mothers, focusses on learning and practising wellbeing skills during pregnancy, to equip women with the skills they need to navigate the inevitable stresses of pregnancy and motherhood. This may result in a reduction in women suffering with perinatal mood disorders, and help mothers to flourish during early motherhood.

 

Method

Through a series of 8 workshops, delivered live or online between 20 and 36 weeks gestation, a health professional will educate women about wellbeing theory, and facilitate the practice of positive psychology interventions learnt together each week. Women will be encouraged to experience and practice a variety of exercises, with support from the facilitator, along with peer support from the private facebook group. 

At the completion of the program, women have developed their own customised wellbeing toolkit, filled with techniques and tools that resonate most, to practice regularly to bolster wellbeing and buffer against the daily stresses associated with pregnancy and motherhood. 

Results

TBC: Flourishing Scale; Edinburgh Post Natal Depression Scale: Program evaluation.

 

Conclusion

Too many women in Australia are suffering during the perinatal period with mood disorders. Our current focus on treatment is missing a unique opportunity to focus on prevention,  up-skilling women with tools and techniques to support perinatal flourishing.

 

  1. Austin M-P, Highet N and the Expert Working Group (2017) Mental Health Care in the Perinatal Period: Australian Clinical Practice Guideline. Melbourne: Centre of Perinatal Excellence.
  2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2012). Perinatal depression: data from the 2010 Australian National Infant Feeding Survey. Canberra: AIHW.
  3. Gidget Foundation. (2019). The cost of perinatal depression and anxiety in Australia. PwC Consulting: Australia.
  4. Milgrom, J., & Gemmill, A. W. (Eds.). (2015). Identifying perinatal depression and anxiety: Evidence -based practice in screening, psychosocial assessment and management. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
  5. Milgrom, J., Holt, C. J., Bleker, L. S., Holt, C., Ross, J., Ericksen, J., Glover, V., O'Donnell, K. J., de Rooij, S. R., & Gemmill, A. W. (2019). Maternal antenatal mood and child development: an exploratory study of treatment effects on child outcomes up to 5 years. Journal of developmental origins of health and disease, 10(2), 221–231.
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