Stress and anxiety during pregnancy and up to 2 years after birth (the ‘perinatal period’) can have serious negative outcomes for women and infants. Approximately 1 in 3 women in Ireland experience stress and/or anxiety during this time. While there are some supports for women in Ireland with serious or complex perinatal mental health problems, supports for all women who may experience difficulties are lacking. A recently completed, HRB funded, project titled ‘Reducing Maternal Stress in Ireland’ aimed to better understand sources and experiences of stress and anxiety during the perinatal period and develop information and recommendations about how best to support women during this time.
The purpose of the proposed online event is to share knowledge and improve research, policy, and practice to better support all women’s mental health during the perinatal period in Ireland. The target audience are researchers, policymakers, and healthcare professionals who provide care for women during the perinatal period. The event will achieve its aim via presenting findings from the ‘Reducing Maternal Stress in Ireland’ project, which will be followed by structured discussion on how the findings can be integrated into policy and practice in Ireland. This will be followed by group discussions and ranking of priority areas for future research, policy, and practice in Ireland. Event outcomes will be disseminated as a freely available online recording of the presentation; a peer-reviewed paper on the agreed priority areas; a brief event overview document circulated to attendees and freely available on the Open Science Framework (OSF); and a policy brief shared with policymakers in Ireland and available on OSF following the event.
This event is timely and important to share knowledge on perinatal stress and anxiety, and to determine, with stakeholders, the key steps needed to best support women in Ireland via research, policy, and practice.