Research PDF Print E-mail

Maternal mental health is an under-researched and neglected field, particularly in developing countries.


The PMHP is engaged with several research projects. We hope this research will contribute to

  • advocacy initiatives
  • enable the efficient and effective rollout of the service to other sites
  • stimulate the generation of further research in low-resource settings

Our most recent research activities are outlined below. Read more about our research outputs here.

research
Impact evaluation

An independent impact evaluation was conducted on the PMHP Secret History training programme at the Mowbray Maternity Hospital.

  • Feedback has been presented to hospital staff.
  • Paper was presented to an international conference in Toronto, Canada.
  • Peer-reviewed article based on the training methodology and the evaluation will be ready for publication in 2010.
Screening Tool Development Study

The PMHP is developing and validating a mental health screening tool that may be used in a range of low-resource settings. This research will take into consideration the impact of learning HIV status on the mental health of pregnant women.

  • The requirement of the screening tool is that it be brief and simple to use in busy clinical settings where staffing levels are low. Such a tool will facilitate the scale-up of maternal mental health services.
  • The preparation phase (research design, piloting the study, protocol development, database development and fundraising) was been funded the Dutch not-for-profit organisation, Cordaid and completed in 2010.
  • Site preparation, which includes constructing a building to house the study, commenced in 2011. Two additional staff members have been hired to conduct the study.
  • The next phase will involved data collection and analysis.

The Study Site

Based on 8 years of experience, the PMHP has identified the need to expand its service to Hanover Park. This is a community of high risk and need. The site reflects the social and demographic realities of women who may be vulnerable to maternal mental illness, violence and abuse.The following factors make Hanover Park an important site for service expansion:

  1. It is a low-income community affected by extremely high rates of abuse, violence, substance abuse and poverty.
  2. The community represents both ‘coloured’ and black African women in roughly equal proportions which contributes to a representative study population.
  3. The Midwife Obstetric Unit (MOU) does not currently provide a mental health support service.
  4. The PMHP has developed strong working relationships with facility management, obstetric staff and other medical and support staff, at the site, since 2004.
Service research

Based on ongoing data collection and analysis, the following research papers are in progress and will be ready for publication in 2010:

  • Formative evaluation of the PMHP service
  • Risk Factor Analysis and the development of a brief alternative screening tool
  • Maternal distress, risk and utilisation patterns of the PMHP
  • Post-natal follow-up evaluation of the PMHP
  • Rationalising maternal psychiatric services in low-resource settings
MHaPP intervention

Under the consultation of the PMHP, maternal mental health has been integrated into a District Demonstration Project in Hlabisa, rural KwaZulu- Natal. This collaboration has involved

  • protocol development
  • focus group design
  • evaluation
  • training of nursing staff
Hosting postgraduate research

The PMHP contributes to the generation of original research by hosting students undertaking higher degrees in a range of related disciplines.

The Project is currently supporting a medical anthropology PhD research proposal entitled Motherhood and emotional distress in a South African township: an ethnographic investigation of postnatal depression in a socio-cultural context.

Sarah Rubin Case Western Reserve University, USA, anticipates commencing this research early in 2010.
Research opportunities

The PMHP produces research in collaboration with experts in a wide range of disciplines. Furthermore, the Project has research interests across several divisions within the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town, such as:

  • the Brain Behaviour Initiative
  • Consultation Liaison Psychiatry
  • Psychotherapy and Neuroclinics
  • Addiction Psychiatry
  • Neuropsychiatry

The PMHP would like to attract a range of students at Masters and Doctoral level to engage with high quality research of mutual interest.

Interested applicants should submit a CV and brief description of areas of research interest or proposal concepts. Selected individuals will be mentored by experienced staff within the Department who will assist in facilitating the procurement of funding as well as the necessary logistical procedures for the work to take place.

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Perinatal Mental Health Project