Consortium for Global Perinatal Mental Health Research

CoPe, our proposed international research network, aims to advance perinatal mental health research in diverse settings, facilitating context-appropriate and evidence-based policy and implementation to reduce the burden of perinatal mental health conditions. Although these conditions pose enormous negative consequences at individual, societal and broader levels, they remain neglected in most low-resource settings. To tackle this, CoPe builds strategically on the ongoing and forthcoming collaborative research and global and local policy advocacy on perinatal mental health of the Reproductive and Maternal Health Unit (RMHU) of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM). CoPe ensures continuity and expansion of the collaborations we initiated on three key projects funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) in recent years:1) Junior postdoctoral fellowship (MISPOD Study (2022-2025); FWO File Number: 1261923N) and senior postdoctoral fellowship (REVISE Study (2025-2028); FWO File Number: 1228026N) projects awarded to Dr Anteneh Asefa, focus on exploring the complex interplay between perinatal mental health and the mistreatment (disrespect and abuse) of women during childbirth, as well as designing and testing interventions to deliver integrated perinatal mental health care for women living with HIV.2) FWO Junior Fundamental Research Project (Discontinu-Cities; FWO File Number: G074724N) awarded to Prof Lenka Benová, focus on understanding the challenges in providing high-quality maternal healthcare in urban settings in Africa and proposing policy and strategic actions. We will build on evidence from the UrbanBirth Collective (UBC), an innovative partnership led by the Reproductive and Maternal Health Unit (RMHU) at the Institute of Tropical Medicine. The UBC provides a unique platform to deepen context-specific understanding of perinatal health problems in sub-Saharan African cities, laying the groundwork for CoPe’s collaborative efforts to address urban maternal health inequalities (https://www.urbanbirthcollective.org/). We will also draw on findings and networks from our multi-country studies in Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, India, and Vietnam, which examined health system responsiveness to promote perinatal mental health through complexity-oriented approaches aimed at addressing the perinatal health and perinatal mental health, particularly for vulnerable groups such as adolescents and young mothers, women living with HIV, and women with migrant backgrounds. To amplify impact, we will engage key strategic partners, including the World Health Organization and Ministries of Health, with whom we already have strong collaborations. Addressing the neglected issue of perinatal mental health conditions in underfunded health systems in low-resource settings, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, requires expertise in primary healthcare systems, health system responsiveness, integrated care pathways, perinatal epidemiology, measurement and evaluation, health equity, participatory research, translating evidence into policy, and engaging disadvantaged groups such as adolescents, migrants, and women living with HIV. The interdisciplinary nature of the proposed network will allow us to leverage diverse expertise to foster complexity-oriented implementation science and policy advocacy, shaping perinatal (mental) health interventions at the macro-, meso-, and micro-levels of health systems. In light of epidemiological transition, rapid urbanisation, and climate-related threats, there is an urgent need to promote perinatal mental health, improve early identification, and provide context and culturally sensitive psychosocial support and treatment services. To achieve this, CoPe will focus on:1. Evidence synthesis on decentralised and integrated care models, with a focus on integration of perinatal mental health care into maternal and child health services at all levels of care, including primary care.2. Establishing synergistic links between ongoing projects of network members to generate robust evidence that can guide high-impact policy and strategic actions with a wider reach.3. Grant writing to conduct a multi-continent and multi-country implementation research project with the active engagement of key stakeholders, including policymakers, implementers, health workers, women and people with lived experiences of perinatal (mental) health conditions, and communities.