Ongoing Perinatal Anxiety and Worry Support (PAWS) Projects
The OpenPAWS team are working on a range of projects.
Click on the tabs to find out more.
OpenPAWS Information and Training Resources
OpenPAWS aims to improve recognition, understanding, and support for perinatal anxiety (PNA) by strengthening both public-facing resources and professional education.
Training resources have been co-produced and piloted with NHS and third-sector stakeholders in Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, South Cumbria, and Norfolk, laying the groundwork for national scale-up.
For more information email PAWS-Research@Open.ac.uk
Postpartum Anxiety, Wellbeing and Support: Risk and Protective Factors (PAWS:RR)
Pregnant people (35-42 weeks of gestation) are being invited to take part in research that aims to understand what makes some people more vulnerable to distressing levels of worry or anxiety after childbirth and identify opportunities to reduce the risk of developing symptoms.
Participants will be asked to complete an online questionnaire about their emotional wellbeing during late pregnancy and again when their baby is 1, 3, 7, and 11 months old.
Findings will be used to develop interventions, targeted support, and further research.
For more information, email PAWS-Research@Open.ac.uk
PAWS – cCBT eHealth tool development
We are working with international collaborators and representatives from the NHS and third sector in the UK to develop an eHealth intervention to address the symptoms of mild-moderate postpartum anxiety.
This research aims to determine whether a transdiagnostic digital self-help course, based on computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT), effectively reduces Postpartum Anxiety symptoms in women and birthing people within 12 months postpartum.
For more information, email PAWS-Research@Open.ac.uk
Conversation starter lanyards
Together with the NorthWest Coast NHS Perinatal Services, we are coproducing a small, accessible lanyard card designed to support health and social care professionals to start and navigate conversations about perinatal mental health (PMH).
This project aims to help busy, front-line professionals to feel more confident to ‘open and close’ sensitive conversations in their everyday practice, whilst also reducing stigma around PMH and helping service users feel understood.
Paternal Anxiety
Details coming soon …