Abstract
Postnatal mental health difficulties affect a high proportion of mothers, and to a lesser
but important extent, the mother’s partner. Poor mental health in either member of a
parenting couple can negatively impact on their support for one another as well as for
their child, both in the postnatal period and longer-term. The negative outcomes for
parents and children have a large associated cost to society. Therefore, healthcare
policy has recommended a move towards integrating mental health support into
postnatal care, with an emphasis on support for partners as well as mothers. This thesis
aims to explore support for both mothers’ and partners’ mental health in the postnatal
period. Part 1 consists of a literature review considering evidence of the acceptability
of e-Health as a solution to parents’ access to support during the postnatal period. The
review identifies that e-Health provides a convenient and flexible intervention for
parents which overcomes the barriers of traditional face-to-face therapy, whilst also
allowing anonymity in their interactions. However, the data suggests that parents
preferred an element of therapist support and individualised content, along with a
smooth user-experience in order to maximise uptake. Part 2 of this thesis focuses on
birth trauma specifically, exploring couples’ experience of the psychological symptoms
of trauma following birth trauma, and what supports them to recover from this. The
empirical research utilises an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach and describes
themes about parents’ feeling of vulnerability and perspective loss of trust in services
to provide support following birth trauma. Further, parents’ need for validation and
repositioning of control away from healthcare professionals when considering the
availability and knowledge of the support options available is discussed.