The long-term impact of women’s mental health during pregnancy, following childbirth and beyond will be examined in regional Western Australia.

Led by Murdoch University, the Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (PEWS) is a collaborative investigation into perinatal depression and the intergenerational relationship between maternal and child mental health.

This study will be a comprehensive investigation to understand mechanisms and modifiers to improve both women with mental illness in pregnancy and also their unborn children’s outcomes across WA, and not just the metropolitan regions.

Through a partnership with the WA Country Health Service (WACHS), PEWS is now expanding the study into regional and rural WA, including the South West, Midwest and Goldfields regions.

Chief Investigator, Professor Megan Galbally was thrilled to be working with the WACHS to broaden the study into these communities.

“There is an urgent need to develop effective interventions to improve mental health outcomes for women and children,” Professor Galbally said.

“Around one in five Australians suffer from mental illness and we know that mental illness in pregnant women is associated with poorer outcomes for their children. “However, we don’t know how exposure to maternal mental illness during pregnancy impacts the child’s develop, and whether treatment can reduce this risk.”

NHMRC funded, PEWS originally commenced at Mercy Hospital for Women in Melbourne and launched in metropolitan Perth following a Spinnaker Grant in early 2017. To date nearly 200 women have joined in the research project through Fiona Stanley Hospital and King Edward Memorial Hospital.

Kasey Biggar, a research assistant with the South West branch of the project said the regional work was very important, and invited women living in the South West who are under 20 weeks pregnant to participate in this study.

“To just have a snapshot of data from the metro area would not paint a whole picture on the possible causes of perinatal depression,” she said.

“WA is huge and its services are vastly different from one area to another. To fully understand what is needed for women and their babies we need to collect a broad range of data.

“We have a huge catchment of women birthing down here in the South West and we also have different stressors and different services.”

For more infomation about participating in the regional study, contact Kylie.Marston@murdoch.edu.au.