Project Type(s):
Clinical Research

Our team previously developed brief, self-directed text message interventions that deliver coping skills and support to individuals experiencing mental health problems following exposure to traumatic and destabilizing events. In this project, we will adapt our interventions for patients in the perinatal period. The perinatal period—pregnancy, birth, and postpartum—often includes significant stressors and increased risk for trauma exposure. These stressful experiences can lead to posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression, which can, in turn, lead to negative outcomes for the birthing parent and baby. Unfortunately, mental health treatment-seeking during this period is low, suggesting a need for additional intervention approaches. Brief, self-directed text message interventions may be a particularly helpful intervention strategy for patients in the perinatal period as they are accessible, low-burden and can reach patients wherever they are and at the time of their choosing.

This project will adapt our existing supportive and skill-based text message interventions for perinatal patients. We will establish two community advisory boards – one with perinatal patients and one with providers – and will consult with them about how best to modify the messages to best serve perinatal patients’ needs. Then we will conduct a test of the adapted intervention to better understand if perinatal patients use and like the messages and whether the messages help perinatal patients improve their mental health related to stressors and traumatic events. The project is intended to lay the groundwork for the development of an additional, effective, accessible low-burden intervention that supports perinatal mental health.

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