The Northern Mental Health Nursing Qualitative Research Forum meets three times a year to connect Mental Health Nurse researchers interested in, and conducting, qualitative research, methodologies and innovations. If you wish to be added to the mailing list, please contact KMWright1@uclan.ac.uk.
The following session was recorded at their second event on Thursday 13 October 2022. With thanks to Prof Karen Wright and Dr James Turner for organising the event and the invitation to support with recording the sessions.
Title: What are the experiences of transitioning to motherhood for non-birth mothers?
Author: Katie Sayles
The NHS long term plan (2019) recognises and has committed to supporting the mental health of both mothers and partners following their transition to parenthood. The benefits of partners being involved in the family unit and the advantages this has to child development are well documented and include, increased brain development, mental resilience and improved emotional and behavioural development (Brink, 2013). The national maternity review outlines the importance of perinatal mental health for all, but wrongly assumes that all new mothers will have carried and birthed their babies (NHS England, 2016). And whilst the NHS long term plan wishes to address supporting both mothers, parents and partners in their transition to parenthood, it fails to recognise the diversity of family forms (NHS, 2019).
I intend to conduct 1-1 interviews with participants in order to gain insight into their experiences of transitioning to motherhood. It is likely that there will be differences to that of fathers or partners and therefore, it is the hope that the outcome of this research will highlight ways to improve practice in perinatal mental health services. As this project is exploratory in nature, adjustments to this initial proposal may be required. Additionally, due to the ever-evolving use of language preference, and much debate/lack of consensus in the field around correct terminology, it is recognised that the term/s used in the question may differ slightly during interviews depending on participants personal preference.
