Perinatal self-harm: using data linkage to understand risk factors for self-harm admissions of women in Scotland during pregnancy and post-natal period
Project reference: RAS-24-3
Approval date: 8 October 2025
|
Lead organisation |
Principal Investigator |
Accredited Researcher Number |
|---|---|---|
| University of Glasgow | Karen Wetherall | 41051 |
Lay summary
This project aims to bolster our current understanding of suicide and self-harm for women during pregnancy and within 1-year post-birth.
This study will use a case control analysis to determine risk factors for self-harm admissions during pregnancy and post-natal period.
Specifically, we aim to identify risk factors that differentiate women who have presented for self-harm during pregnancy and/or the post-natal period, from those who have no self-harm admission during this time.
A further aim is to establish which risk factors are central to the emergence of self-harm in pregnant and post-natal women.
The research outputs will include the dissemination of the findings to the research, public health and healthcare communities.
Public benefit statement
Suicide is currently the leading cause of death of women during and up to 1 year postpartum, and this research will advance our understanding of suicide and self-harm in women during this vulnerable time.
To better understand this issue within the Scottish context, the research will use several linked administrative datasets to investigate self-harm admissions in women during pregnancy and the post-partum period. Specifically, by linking maternity records to hospital admissions records, we will aim to understand what factors may make an individual more at risk of self-harm during pregnancy and post-partum period.
The research will help us to understand the needs of this at-risk group, as well as support health and social care to identify where resources should be allocated. By investigating important risk factors, evidence will identify those who may be at elevated risk, and interventions can be targeted to those groups.
The research outputs for this project will involve the dissemination of the findings to the academic, public health and healthcare communities. This will include publication of the research findings within academic journals, and presentation at mental health and suicide conferences. To communicate the findings more widely, the results will be summarized in an accessible format that can be utilized by healthcare settings to better recognize the identifiable risk factors associated with self-harm and suicide risk in perinatal women, in order that those at risk may have better access to mental health services.
Recommendations will be drawn from this research, and the wider literature, that will aim to improve the awareness and treatment of women during this high-risk period from a public health and healthcare provision perspective. These recommendations will be shared with the National Suicide Prevention Advisory Group (NSPAG), who advise the Scottish Government on issues connected with suicide prevention.
Therefore, this project aims to provide a range of public good, specifically to enhance the academic literature around perinatal self-harm and suicide, to assist in the identification of those at elevated risk in during this time, and to directly impact healthcare and public health within this area.
Datasets used