Mothers’ and Young People’s Study

 
 
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 The Mothers’ and Young People’s Study is an Australian prospective cohort study initially designed to investigate women's health after childbirth. Over time our focus has expanded to include investigation of children and young people’s health and wellbeing, and the extent to which mothers and children's health are inextricably linked.

What is already known?

Maternal health is critical to the health and wellbeing of children and families, but is rarely the primary focus of pregnancy and birth cohort studies. Globally, poor maternal health and the exposure of women and children to family violence contribute to the perpetuation and persistence of intergenerational health inequalities.

What does this study add?

The study has collected detailed information on maternal and child health from pregnancy to age ten. It is one of the few pregnancy cohort studies with prospectively collected data on common maternal health problems and repeated measurement of exposure to intimate partner violence spanning the period from early pregnancy to ten years postpartum. Evidence from the study has already highlighted the importance on ongoing primary care and support for mothers tailored to social context and extending well beyond the perinatal period.

 What’s next?

We are currently undertaking follow-up of mothers and young people in the cohort as the young people reach 18 years of age. We are also continuing to publish papers and policy briefs from earlier waves of follow-up, including a nested sub-study examining social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and adolescent mental health and wellbeing.

“I was really happy before because I have all these dreams and all these plans for my future, and now I am sad thinking about them.”

— Study Participant

The COVID-19 pandemic has been really challenging for young people

*Content notice - mental health and suicide*

Watch this short animation to find out what it was like for young people aged 14-17 during Victoria's second lockdown.

The Policy Briefs used to inform this animation are available below.

Where can I read more?

  • Evidence Brief #1

    Intimate partner violence in the first decade of motherhood: implications for the health sector

    Read here

  • Patterns of health service utilisation of mothers experiencing mental healthproblems and intimate partner violence: Ten year follow-up of an Australian prospective mother and child cohort

    Gartland D, Hegarty K, Papadopoullos S, Brown S. PLOS ONE;2022;17(6): e0269626

    Read here

  • Policy Brief #3

    Young people’s experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic

    Read here

  • Policy Brief #4

    Young people’s mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

    Read here

  • Policy Brief #5

    Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mothers’ mental health and wellbeing.

    Read here

  • Frequency of “Time for Self” Is a Significant Predictor of Postnatal Depressive Symptoms: Results from a Prospective Pregnancy Cohort Study

    Woolhouse H, Small R, Miller K, Brown SJ. Birth; 2016;43(1):58-67

    Read here

  • Promoting resilience and wellbeing in children exposed to intimate partner violence: A qualitative study with mothers

    Fogarty F, Woolhouse H, Giallo R, Wood C, Kaufman J, Brown S. Child Abuse and Neglect;2019:95:104039

    Read here

  • The Maternal Health Study: study design update for a prospective cohort of first-time mothers and their first-born children from birth to age ten

    Brown SJ, Gartland D, Woolhouse H, Giallo R et al. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology; 2021;35(5):612-625

    Read here

  • Physical and mental health of women exposed to intimate partner violence in the 10 years after having their first child: an Australian prospective cohort of first-time mothers

    Brown SJ, Conway LJ, FitzPatrick KM, Hegarty K, Mensah F. BMJ Open;2021;10(12):e034295

    Read here

  • Intimate partner violence and child outcomes at age 10: a pregnancy cohort

    Gartland D, Conway L, Giallo R, Mensah F. et al. Intimate partner violence and child outcomes at 10: a pregnancy cohort. Archives of Disease in Childhood 2021;106(11):1066-1074.

    Read here

  • Intergenerational impacts of family violence - mothers and children in a large prospective pregnancy cohort study

    Gartland D, Giallo R, Woolhouse H, Mensah F, Brown SJ. EClinicalMedicine, 2019;15:51-61.

    Read here

Who can I contact for more information?

Stephanie Brown