New publication on perinatal mental illness

Julie Jomeen

Catriona Jones

Catriona Jones

Julie Jomeen & Mark Hayter

Mark Hayter

have just published: The impact of peer support in the context of perinatal mental illness: A meta-ethnography in Midwifery

Catriona says:

This paper, published in Midwifery, reports on the findings of a systematic review and meta-ethnography on the impact of peer support on perinatal mental illness (PMI).  PMI is now acknowledged as an important global health problem, with levels of post natal depression (PND) affecting 3-25% of new mothers.  The incidence of PND is matched by that of antenatal depression.  Several quantitative studies have attempted to measure the impact of peer support for PMI; however, this approach has provided mixed evidence of efficacy.  There isa growing number of qualitative studies on this issue; hence Julie, Mark and I recognised an urgent need to bring them together and synthesise the key messages for practice. 

This qualitative synthesis not only illustrates the positive impact that access to the right type of support can have on recovery and women’s health, it also demonstrates the powerful effects of isolation, the attitudes of others, and the harmful effects of societal views of the “good mother”.

We began work on the review in March 2012.  One member of the team was relatively new to the Faculty, and two team members were new to the process of meta-ethnography; a collection of novices you might say.  Whilst the project itself has taken approximately 18 months to complete, the 'man-hours' spent dedicated to it, from the development of the review protocol through to final corrections, probably amounts to approximately 24 - 36 hours in total.  Thus highlighting that what appears to be a long drawn out process to the individuals involved is not as lengthy as it seems!  Personally, I can say that this was a huge learning curve for me, and I was well supported by the other members of the team throughout.  It was extremely rewarding, and it demonstrates that the use of fanciful and often intimidating research language such as 'undertaking a meta-ethnography' should not put people off.  Like everything in life, you just need to know that you are part of a team, and no matter how huge the task ahead may seem, it just needs to be broken down into 'bite size' chunks.