The mission.
NHS Wales wanted to create a public campaign and health resources to support awareness and open conversation about mental and physical health concerns during and after pregnancy. To support them we conducted research with people planning a pregnancy, currently or recently pregnant people and supporters such as partners, co-parents, carers, family and friends of pregnant people.
The project sought to better understand what may support NHS Wales to empower pregnant people with audience-led resources. The mission was to generate insight about how people can be supported to monitor and safeguard their health during and after pregnancy, understand health changes and challenges, and talk more openly about perinatal health.
The research.
Mixed methodologies including surveys and telephone interviews were used to gather insight from people with lived experience of accessing perinatal health information in Wales. We ensured that the research cohorts represented the diversity of the audience by engaging with people from rural areas, a range of age ranges and ethnicities, Welsh language speakers and people with experiences of perinatal traumas including mental illnesses.
The insights gained through quantitative and qualitative research provided a comprehensive understanding of the experiences and challenges faced by people who may access perinatal health information in Wales, and the best ways to support their self-sufficiency, confidence, wellbeing, empowerment and access to services.
The impact.
These findings will be used to develop an evidence-led public health campaign and digital resources which support pregnant people and their supporters to access information they need on their perinatal journey. Using the behavioural insights and what the audience have shared, resources which speak to them will be created to support them to maintain their health throughout the perinatal period and access services when needed.
At every stage of the process, the wants and needs of the audience are prioritised. The campaign will be further refined using co-creation workshops with pregnant people and utilising the knowledge base of NHS Wales to deliver accurate, reliable and impactful resources to people who need them.