The PRAMS (Perinatal Redesign for Accessing Mental Health Services) Study: a research protocol.

Area of Science:

• Perinatal mental health research
• Health inequalities
• Intervention co-design

Background:

• Perinatal mental health (PMH) issues affect 10-20% of women, costing the UK £8.1 billion annually.
• Ethnic minority women, those in deprived areas, and facing multiple disadvantages experience significant access and outcome inequalities.
• Gaps exist between primary care and specialist PMH services, with limited guidance for underserved populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To co-design an experience-based intervention for unmet PMH needs in underserved women.
• To identify barriers to care access and gaps within PMH pathways.
• To develop an accessible, evidence-informed intervention tailored to specific underserved groups.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-methods study employing the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework.
• Adapted Accelerated Experience-Based Co-Design (AEBCD) approach.
• National professional surveys/interviews (WP1), focus groups/interviews with underserved women (WP2), and co-design workshops (WP3).

Main Results:

• The PRAMS study will generate clinically relevant insights.
• A co-designed intervention will be developed through collaboration with practitioners and women with lived experience.
• Findings will inform local service delivery and national learning on user-led PMH service redesign.

Conclusions:

• The PRAMS study aims to reduce inequalities in PMH care for underserved women and birthing people.
• Collaborative co-design with diverse stakeholders will yield a potentially impactful intervention.
• Results will contribute to improving access and management of PMH care across primary and secondary services.