Project and PPI overview

The stage in the research cycle:  Identifying & Prioritising, Design, Analysing & Interpreting, Dissemination

Type of research award: Early career award & project award

Title of research grant: The Maternal health And Maternal Morbidity in Ireland (MAMMI) study

Principal Investigator on the award: Dr Deirdre Daly

Aims of the project

The Maternal health And Maternal Morbidity in Ireland (MAMMI) study was established in 2011 and aimed to identify the existence, extent and prevalence of health problems experienced by fist-time mothers before and during pregnancy and up to 12 months postpartum.

How were people found who wanted to be involved?

Women were offered information on the study at their first book visit to one of three maternity hospitals in Ireland between 2012 and 2017. One to two weeks later, a researcher telephoned them to answer questions and ascertain their willingness to take part. A total of 3047 women were recruited, and retention at three months postpartum ranged from 86%-93% across the three sites.

How were people involved?

From the outset, the MAMMI study aspired to be a study with and for women. Over the years our processes evolved from consulting women to co-designing research, co-presenting findings and co-creating resources with women. In 2017, the team held ‘Sharing the findings’ seminars for participants. Subsequently, funding was awarded to establish an alongside public contributor panel in 2018 which aimed to identify what MAMMI study-related research women wanted to be conducted. An invitation to take part in the panel was sent to all on-going participants and a total of 88 women expressed an interest in taking part. Quarterly meetings, co-chaired by a participant, were held on Saturday mornings throughout 2018.

What training and support was offered?

While we did not offer any training, women said our regular two-way information sharing with women, via the study’s website, quarterly newsletters, and the ‘Sharing the findings’ seminars, motivated them to take part. Travel expenses, gift vouchers or honorariums were offered to women who attended meetings, co-presented and co-designed resources.

What difference did public involvement make?

Women’s involvement led to co-designing the MAMMI study’s second baby and five year follow-up surveys, a separate study on what matters to women in the first year postpartum, and to co-presenting and co-publishing findings. Importantly, the public contributor panel led to the co-creation of a suite of resources  on women’s health after motherhood (WHAM). These resources are based on the MAMMI study’s findings and on what women said they wish they had known. They are free, available in English, Spanish and Dutch and provide reliable, trustworthy and engaging information for women and their partners, and for maternity care professionals to use to complement their practice. WHAM has been recognised by the 2020 Health Service Excellence Awards as an exemplary project contributing to health and social care services.

Women’s involvement has improved how we, as researchers, communicate with women in the study and how we approach and conduct research.

Panel members said they benefitted from taking part also – in the words of one woman, the process ‘inspired the socialist feminist activist in me’.

What would you advise researchers about involvement?

To be successful, public involvement ought to be planned as a core essential component of the study’s design. Genuine public involvement is a long-term process that must be cultivated in order to achieve true partnership and produce actionable results. It requires considerable commitment from women and this must be acknowledged. Our research team’s belief is that the data we collect in the MAMMI study are the women’s data.

Contact details: Dr Deirdre Daly, Assistant Professor in Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin