NCMH Maternal Wellbeing, Mental Health and Life Experiences Survey

Help with our maternal mental health research

About the study

It is important to consider factors that may have an effect in pregnancy and in the first year after childbirth.

At NCMH we are trying to understand more about how life experiences impact on maternal wellbeing and mental health during this period.

If you decide to take part, we will ask you to provide us with some basic information about yourself, your mental health, wellbeing and your past experiences, as well as your experiences related to COVID-19. There is no obligation to take part and you do not need to answer any questions that you find upsetting.

We also want to identify people who would be willing to be approached about taking part in future mental health research projects.

What will I have to do?

Taking part is voluntary: it’s up to you to choose if you want to sign up.

If you join us, you’ll be asked whether you would be willing to:

1. Provide us with your contact details (e.g. address, email address and phone number) and some personal information (e.g. date of birth, ethnic group, and employment status).

2. Answer some questions about your wellbeing, current or recent pregnancy, mental health, your life experiences, and thoughts and feelings related to COVID-19. This will take approximately 20-30 minutes.

3. If recruited in pregnancy, allow us to contact you for follow up questionnaires within the next 2 weeks, at 1 month after your due date and at 6 months after your due date.

4. If recruited postnatally, allow us to contact you for follow up questionnaires within the next 2 weeks and in 6 months’ time.

5. Be contacted every 6-12 months or so following this by the study team, to invite you to provide more information about your mental and physical health and your lifestyle.

6. Allow us to contact you in the future about other studies that you may want to take part in. There will be no obligation for you to take part in these future opportunities.

7. Allow us to share anonymous information with other researchers if they have scientific and ethical approval for the questions that they would like to answer.

We will use your answers to improve our understanding of the impact of life experiences on maternal wellbeing & mental health.

Please visit the NCMH website for information on organisations that you can call if you need some support.

Once you have joined, you can choose if you want to take part in any of the questionnaires, or studies, that we tell you about when we get in touch with you.

Who is doing the study?

This study is led by the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH). NCMH is a Welsh Government funded Research Centre, led by Cardiff, Swansea and Bangor Universities. It is being funded by Health and Care Research Wales, Welsh Government. The Director of the National Centre for Mental Health is Professor Ian Jones.

How can I join the study?

You will have the opportunity to join the study once you have read through and understand the information.

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

We hope that learning more about the impact of life experiences on maternal wellbeing and mental health will lead to new and improved ways of recognising and providing support in times of need. However, these remain long-term aims and you will not benefit directly from taking part in this study.

What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?

This survey may involve answering questions that some people may find distressing. You do not need to answer any of these questions if doing so would be upsetting. Please visit the NCMH website for information on organisations that you can call if you need some support.

Who will have access to my information?

Only the study team will have access to your data and only they will contact you directly.

All information collected during the course of the research will be kept strictly confidential. There are strict laws that safeguard your privacy at every stage. In accordance with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), your personal information will be kept confidential by assigning a unique study code to your data. Your name and identifying information will not be passed on to anyone.

What questions will I be asked now?

When you agree to take part and sign up, you will be asked to provide contact details and some other information about yourself such as your age and ethnic group. You will also be asked to answer some questions about your wellbeing, current or recent pregnancy, mental health, your life experiences, as well as your experiences related to COVID-19.

How often will I be contacted?

After this initial assessment, we will contact you about completing the follow up assessment within the next 2 weeks and then if you are currently pregnant we will contact you at 2 time points in the first year after childbirth. If you have recently given birth, we will contact you again in 6 months’ time. These follow ups will be to ask you more questions about your experiences, your mental and general health and lifestyle. Sometimes we will ask for information that you haven’t given before. Sometimes we will ask you the same questions as before, so that we can see how things have changed.

As well as this regular contact, the study team may contact you from time to time, to ask you to take part in new studies. You may be contacted because of something that you have told us about (for example, your age). These studies may be conducted by other research teams. We will give you more information about these studies including why the research is being carried out, what you might be asked to do and how to sign up. It is up to you to decide whether you want to take part in these new studies. It won’t affect your participation in the overall NCMH Maternal Wellbeing, Mental Health, and life experiences survey if you prefer not to get involved.

How long will it take?

First you need to join the study. This involves reading this information and then consenting below. This should take about 5 minutes. Take as much time as you need to decide whether you wish to take part.

Once you have joined, you will be asked some questions. This should take about 20-30 minutes to finish.

Can I decline or withdraw from the study?

You do not have to take part in this study. If you do decide to take part you are still free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason. If you decide to withdraw from this study, all details you have provided will be destroyed. These will not be used further in the research.

What happens when the study is finished?

This is a long term study that will allow us to learn about the impact of life experiences on maternal wellbeing and mental health. The information you provide will be stored for use on a long term basis (at least 15 years).

You will not have any claim to any future commercial use of results from the study in which your data has been used. To make best use of resources we will share data (anonymised to exclude any personal details) with different groups of researchers from the NHS, universities and commercial companies, both within the UK and abroad. However, we would stress that those organizations will never obtain access to personal/ identifying information (for example, your name, address, date of birth).

Who has reviewed the study?

Ethical approval has been obtained from the National Research Ethics Service and NHS (Research and Development) permission has also been obtained.

If you have further questions about the study please contact the study team:

National Centre for Mental Health
Cardiff University
Hadyn Ellis Building,
Maindy Road, Cathays,
Cardiff
CF24 4HQ
Phone 029 20688401
Fax     029 20687100
Email   info@ncmh.info

If you would like to discuss this study with someone independent of the study please contact:

Vanessa Davies
Institute Manager
Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute
3rd Floor, Hadyn Ellis Building
Maindy Road
CARDIFF
CF24 4HQ
Phone 029 20688340
Email daviesvj@cardiff.ac.uk