Finding solutions for perinatal loneliness in collaboration with people with lived and practitioner experience

Researcher

• Ruth Naughton-Doe

About the project

This research aims to find solutions for the loneliness experienced by parents whilst pregnant and the first year after having a baby (the perinatal period). The idea for the project came from lived experience of loneliness and postnatal depression.

Parents have an increased risk for loneliness, especially in the first year after birth. The impacts of loneliness can have lasting consequences for parents and their children.

Parents who need support might not be able to find it, either through it not being available, not knowing where to look, or not being able to afford the options available. Support should be tailored to a parents’ unique situation, including support for fathers, parents of disabled children, adoptive parents, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) parents, parents from ethnic minorities, parents of multiples, parents with large families, parents with disabilities or long-term health conditions, neurodiverse parents, and parents with fewer financial resources.

Parents who have felt lonely, and practitioners who have worked with those parents, hold vital knowledge to finding solutions to help new and expecting parents feel less lonely in the future.

The research will:

• Identify potential solutions for perinatal loneliness from published research
• Talk to parents who say they feel lonely at two points in their perinatal period to find out if and how they overcome their loneliness, the problems they face, and the ways they cope
• Talk to practitioners and service users with lived experience to hear their perspectives on the solutions to perinatal loneliness
• Reflect on these findings with people with a diverse range of lived and practitioner experiences to develop a framework for solutions for perinatal loneliness, called a Theory of Change
• Share the research findings widely to inform policy, practice, and self-help
• Create a Perinatal Loneliness Research Group to bring together academics interested in perinatal loneliness to collaborate in future research.

Funders

NIHR Three Research Schools' Mental Health Research Fellowships, NIHR School for Primary Care Research, NIHR School for Public Health Research and NIHR School for Social Care Research

Further information

For further information about the perinatal loneliness study, please visit the website:

Perinatal loneliness study