Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Well-being Study (MPEWS): Understanding maternal mental health, fetal programming and child development. Study design and cohort profile

Abstract

Maternal mental health represents a significant global health burden. The Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Well-being Study (MPEWS) was established to provide a comprehensive investigation of early developmental mechanisms and modifiers for maternal, fetal and child emotional well-being. MPEWS is a prospective, longitudinal study from pregnancy to 36 months postpartum that includes diagnostic measures of maternal mental health, observational measures of the mother–infant relationship, measures of child development, and repeat biological sampling. A total of 282 pregnant women were recruited in early pregnancy from the Mercy Hospital for Women in Melbourne, Australia, including 52 women on antid..