Executive Summary: Reducing Inequalities in Perinatal Mental Health Care: How Do We Reduce Inequalities in Perinatal Mental Health Care: An Executive Summary of the West Yorkshire Health Care Partnership Research Programme

Researchers from Born in Bradford and the Universities of Huddersfield and York have recently completed an in-depth study to understand the inequalities in identification and treatment of perinatal mental health (PMH) in order to develop recommendations and adaptations to address these inequalities. This research was funded by Wakefield CCGs on behalf of West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, in collaboration with the PMH Steering Group and took place across services within West Yorkshire.
The team spent two years undertaking: Literature reviews, system and pathways evaluation, routine health data analyses, surveys with healthcare professionals and qualitative interviews with voluntary sector workers and women from ethnic minority and socio-economically deprived backgrounds to provide in-depth insights on the causes of these inequalities. These findings were taken to expert panels of healthcare practitioners, managers and commissioners to develop the recommendations.