'Space for You' resources to support new mums' mental health in an Australian first
Christina pictured at 28 weeks pregnant with her first baby.
After suffering nausea, vomiting and exhaustion during her first trimester of pregnancy, staying mentally healthy while pregnant with her first baby girl has been a priority for Christina of Treeby.
Due to birth at Fiona Stanley Hospital's (FSH) Family Birth Centre, Christina has now entered her third trimester feeling mentally well.
"It was really isolating feeling so unwell in those early stages but not wanting to share news of my pregnancy yet," Christina said.
"As soon as I reached out to others and lent on my ‘community’ for support, I felt better."
Aiming to improve outcomes for mums likes Christina, and their families, FSH are participating in an Australian-first maternal mental health promotion pilot project, called Space for You.
The project will trial the use of evidence-based, co-designed health promotion resources to optimise new mums' mental health within FSH antenatal settings from the end of this month.
Anxiety and depression impact 1 in 5 women in Australia, and 1 in 10 partners, and while current maternity care provides standard screening to detect risk or presence of mental illness, there are no specific interventions in pregnancy for the other 4 in 5 Australian women that focus on the promotion of mental health and wellbeing.
FSH Midwifery Manager Sara Veness emphasised how exciting it is to participate in this Australian-first perinatal mental health promotion initiative which aims to strengthen the mental health of birthing women and their families.
"The project aims to raise awareness amongst maternity consumers at FSH to identify and prioritise mental health and wellbeing in the way midwives commonly address physical health promotion in pregnancy such as safe sleeping, and smoking cessation," said Sara.
The development of the Space for You resources has been a true team effort. The resources were co-designed by pregnant women, mothers and midwives across the nation, as well as an obstetrician, in conjunction with a multidisciplinary public health advisory group, including South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS) Area Director Nursing and Midwifery and Adjunct Associate Professor Peta Fisher, and FSH Midwife Unit Manager Kathy Cross. The resources feature lived-experience storytelling of WA women and their families and apply participatory research to a health promotion intervention.
Curtin University School of Nursing PhD candidate Lesley Pascuzzi, supervised by Associate Professor Zoe Bradfield, developed the project with support from SMHS staff Sara, Peta, Kathy and Midwife, Justine Rosevear.
Lesley said, "This project shifts the conversation from avoiding mental illness, to encouraging pregnant women to develop knowledge, awareness and skills to understand and communicate what it means to be mentally healthy mothers."
"The relationship birthing women develop with their midwives over the course of their pregnancy journey make them well placed to facilitate access to the new Space for You resources, which aim to strengthen the women's agency to identify her own mental health and develop a vocabulary to communicate this amongst partners and family members."
Over the coming months, five midwives and ten women will access the collection of resources including educational videos, posters and a workbook, in addition to routine maternity care at FSH. Some women will access the collection of resources during pregnancy only, and other women additionally into early postpartum, with midwives participating to facilitate mental health promotion conversations with these women. Further, all birthing families at FSH will be able to access the resources directly with posters linking to video resources, displayed in the maternity wards, the birthing centre, and clinics.
Christina is now excitedly preparing for her birth alongside her midwife at FSH and hopes the Space for You resources will encourage more women to prioritise their mental health in pregnancy and reach out for support when they need it.
Lesley said, "following the pilot project, we hope to better understand if it is feasible for midwives to facilitate access to mental health promotion resources within antenatal care and establish pregnant women and mothers' perspectives of this opportunity within routine care."
The project officially launched on 28 November at the FSH Family Birth Centre during Perinatal Mental Health Week. The project will run from December 2025 to May 2026 and is based on findings from Lesley's PhD research available online here, following a recent publication and scoping review demonstrating this is an Australian-first.
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