UNSW receives $8.1m to shed light on the dark side of pregnancy

The project aims to help women who experience intrusive thoughts, anxiety and stress-related disorders while pregnant and after giving birth. 

A team led by UNSW Sydney has received an $8.1 million grant from global charitable foundation Wellcome to help improve the lives of women who experience anxiety and other stress-related mental health problems during pregnancy and following childbirth.

Scientia Associate Professor Susanne Schweizer from UNSW Science was awarded the Wellcome Mental Health Award after a successful bid process. Her project will study the social, biological and cognitive factors that contribute to the heightened vulnerability women experience in the perinatal period.

The study will particularly focus on perinatal intrusions. This is a phenomenon where mothers experience unwanted thoughts of child-related harm.

“Perinatal mental health remains vastly under-studied. This is in part because it’s long been considered niche – but it isn’t. 85 per cent of women will have given birth by age 44,” A/Prof. Schweizer said.

“Having experienced perinatal intrusions with each of my three children across three separate national health care systems in the UK, Switzerland and Australia, I was amazed to find out that most women experience them. Yet we are currently not told about them - this needs to change.”

A/Prof. Schweizer said the project will help raise much-needed awareness for perinatal intrusions and anxiety disorders.

“These thoughts are highly distressing but currently poorly understood,” she said.

The international research team will collaborate with women who have experienced perinatal anxiety, as well as interdisciplinary mental health researchers and health care professionals in Australia and India. The project will also combine innovative cross-species, longitudinal and experimental research.

A/Prof. Schweizer said she was grateful for the funding, and said it’s an incredible opportunity to carry out research on mental health at a scale that is very rarely possible.

"Addressing perinatal mental health issues early is essential for laying the foundation for good mental health in the future. By focusing on this period, we can promote wellbeing in both the mother and child," she said.

Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Attila Brungs, congratulated A/Prof. Schweizer on receiving the highly sought after grant.

“It’s fantastic to see the vital work Susanne is doing at UNSW being recognised internationally. Her research will ultimately improve global maternal health and lead to better care and medical management for mothers and their children,” he said.

UNSW’s Dean of Science, Scientia Professor Sven Rogge, said the grant will help UNSW researchers address a range of mental health conditions that affect millions of new parents worldwide.

“For such a common phenomenon, this area of mental health is poorly understood by the scientific and medical community,” Prof. Rogge said.

“This project aims to develop better diagnostic and treatment methods for mental health conditions experienced during pregnancy and post-partum, ultimately improving the lives of mothers, children, and their families. Susanne’s personal experience with perinatal intrusions fuels her passionate leadership and success.”

Wellcome is a global charitable foundation which supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing with a focus on mental health, infectious disease and climate and health. Based in the UK, and chaired by former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, it is one of the largest charitable foundations in the world.