Trinity’s School of Nursing and Midwifery today launched a suite of free online resources for women, mothers and healthcare professionals.
The resources, advertised as part of a package called “What I Wish I Had Known”, give users evidence-based information to address gaps in their knowledge on sometimes-sensitive health issues.
It hopes to give women the tools to take charge of their own wellbeing.
The resources have been developed from the findings of the Maternal health And Maternal Morbidity in Ireland Study, an Irish longitudinal study examining the health and health problems experienced by over 3,000 first-time mothers around Ireland.
The study was based primarily on what women said they wished they had known about motherhood.
Speaking at today’s launch event, Dr Deirdre Daly, an assistant professor of midwifery, and principal investigator of the study, said that the study “was set up as a study with and for women”.
“From the very start, and especially after we shared the findings with women at various events and seminars, women kept telling us to ‘do something about these findings’, ‘you have to break the silence’ and ‘you have to do something to make it better for future mothers’”, she said.
The resources are divided into three sections. The first section, Women’s Health After Motherhood, which is held on the FutureLearn platform, is directed at new mothers and healthcare professionals, to help bring care to the home through the presentation of articles, videos, self-assessments, coached tasks and many other services.
The MESSAGES (Motherhood, Empowerment, Sustainable Self-help: Addressing Gaps in Education with Science) section contains self-help videos for new mothers dealing with urinary incontinence, and strives to educate them on the causes and treatments available.
The third section, titled Towards Recovery After Childbirth, contains a series of educational videos on pelvic girdle pain, postpartum sexual health and postpartum anxiety.
“Working in partnership with MAMMI study participants, healthcare professionals including women’s health physiotherapists, a perinatal psychiatrist, and other experts in mental health, sexual health and domestic violence, we spent the last year designing these wonderful, reliable and trustworthy resources for women, and for healthcare professionals to use to complement their practice”, Daly added.
In a press statement, Naomi Donaldson, a participant in the MAMMI study, said: “Every question I had as a new mother felt like a stupid question to me. I felt I was the only one experiencing motherhood as I did.”
“I realised through the MAMMI study”, she said, “that for the most part, everyone is going through the same thing. Those ‘stupid questions’ aren’t stupid at all and they are all answered within the new on-line resources that are being launched today”.
“If the resources had been available when I had my baby, they would have allowed me to prepare myself for the loneliness, isolation and guilt you feel as a new mum”, Donaldson said.
Speaking at the launch, Margie McCarthy, the head of education and public engagement at Science Foundation Ireland, said: “Science Foundation Ireland is delighted to support the MESSAGES project, which highlights how clearly written, easy-to-access evidence based literature can significantly improve people’s everyday lives. By working directly with mothers who have experienced issues after childbirth to co-create these important resources, they are more effective, more relevant and accessible to all.”
