Inequalities in mental health during pregnancy: A BiBBS Study

There are well reported inequalities in perinatal mental health disclosure, identification and treatment. Key inequalities reported in the literature include Ethnicity, English language ability, age, parity and socioeconomic status. Using a large ethnically diverse population, previous research across BiBBS and Tower Hamlets during the pandemic found no ethnic differences in mental health once social support, loneliness and financial security were controlled for. There was however worse mental health in Tower Hamlets than in Bradford. Qualitative research conducted in Bradford identified protective factors in the Bradford Pakistani population through their cultural and religious beliefs, being a part of a larger household, and a sense of social cohesion.

We want to use the full BiBBS cohort to explore, in depth, the differences in the prevalence of mental ill health by ethnicity, levels of social support, loneliness and financial insecurity. We will also use routine midwifery data to explore inequalities in the detection of mental ill health between routine and research data.