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The Improving Postpartum Outcomes of Severe Mental Illnesses in Ethnically Diverse Mothers (POSIE) project, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is a collaboration between several UK universities, including the University of Oxford, NHS Trusts and charities. It aims to identify practical ways to improve care for mothers experiencing serious mental illnesses such as severe depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and psychosis.
Suicide remains the leading cause of death among mothers in the first year after giving birth, while the number of new mothers seeking mental health support has risen sharply, increasing by 30% between 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, women from Black ethnic backgrounds are almost three times more likely to die in the year following childbirth compared to white mothers, and women from Asian backgrounds also face an increased risk.
A particular focus for the research is the transition from hospital to community care, a period when many women lose contact with support services and face heightened risk.
Professor Kam Bhui, co-lead investigator also from Oxford and lead of the CHiMES Collaborative research group, said: “The disparities between different groups highlight that current systems of care are not meeting the needs of all mothers. This exciting collaborative project aims to tackle this challenge and improve the prevention and management of severe mental illness following childbirth.”
Read the full story on the Department of Psychiatry website.