This study aims to understand the distinct needs and preferences of this women who are partners of serving military personnel regarding their care during the perinatal period, and design and pilot a workshop-style maternity-led support service to address the perinatal needs of this group.
Military families are a marginalised group who may have more challenges and needs during their maternity journey than their civilian counterparts. Research (US) suggests there is an increased incidence of perinatal mental health challenges in the spouses of those serving (Godier-McBard et al., 2019; Pretorius et al., 2024) due to periods of isolation, a lack of social support, frequent moves and anxiety about partner deployment.
However, the distinct needs of women connected to military personnel, in the period before and just after giving birth, have not previously been explored in a UK context. This project aims to work with military partners/spouses in the East of England to understand their needs during this time, and design and evaluate a brief series of maternity support workshops based on its findings.
This project forms part of ARU HCRC's broader work to evaluate the extent to which health inequalities impact on pregnancy outcomes within the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) maternity services.
Existing research from the US/Canada suggests that those from military communities experience challenges that impact both experience and outcomes, over and above their civilian counterparts during the perinatal period. These challenges include stress, pre-term birth, lower birth weight babies, and increased mental ill-health.
Other, broader research (UK-based) suggests that civilian practitioners lack awareness and understanding of the military community, context and their distinct needs, despite the Armed Forces Covenant and military/veteran awareness schemes aimed to address this.
ESNEFT services cover a number of military-dense areas in the East of England. International research suggests that this community are likely to face disadvantage when it comes to receipt of maternity care. Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) work in the ESNEFT catchment area, undertaken in 2024, indicated that research is needed to address the unique challenges experienced by this group during the perinatal period.
This project will recruit and train peer researchers (i.e. women from within the community that forms its participant population) to support recruitment to the research project and to help clarify its findings. It will use both surveys and focus groups to understand the challenges and unmet needs of women connected to military personnel as they navigate the period before and after giving birth.
Based on the findings from this, three maternity support workshops will be developed, delivered, and evaluated alongside co-researchers from within these communities. The lessons learned from these workshops and the research under-pinning them will be shared widely with maternity services and military services in the region.
An additional study exploring experience and awareness of the needs of military communities during the perinatal period among ESNEFT maternity staff is currently underway, and it is anticipated that its findings will complement those of this project.
Stephanie Roberson, Infant Feeding Coordinator, is leading this project on behalf of ESNEFT.
