ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2026
Mental Health Experiences and Needs of Women With Congenital Heart Disease in Pregnancy and Postpartum: A Qualitative Participatory Study.
Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimIn the United Kingdom, mental health and maternal health are now key priorities for research among adults with congenital heart disease. However, worldwide, research on the mental health of pregnant and postpartum women with congenital heart disease is scant, and no UK-based participatory studies on the topic have been conducted. Our research aim is to explore the mental health experiences and needs of UK women with lived experiences of pregnancy and congenital heart disease.
methodsWe conducted a qualitative participatory study, in which women with lived experiences of congenital heart disease, pregnancy, and birth participated in a series of semi-structured online group discussions focused on their mental health experiences and needs and on co-designing future research on the topic. Discussions were recorded and automatically transcribed; transcripts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
resultsEleven women with a range of congenital heart disease diagnoses and experiences took part. Five themes were developed through the analysis: women with congenital heart disease (1) feel they have very little control over preconception-, pregnancy-, and birth-planning; (2) experience anxiety around pregnancy and childbirth; (3) feel that experiencing a high risk, complex pregnancy can be isolating; (4) experience complex relationships with healthcare professionals during pregnancy; and (5) need more postpartum support. A thread running through the first four themes is the need for additional support during the pregnancy journey, in both healthcare and social contexts.
conclusionDistress and anxiety were common experiences during preconception, pregnancy, and the postnatal period. These experiences were exacerbated by wider relational and systemic stressors, namely, social isolation, traumatic healthcare experiences, and lack of psychological support during pregnancy and postpartum. Future research should investigate service gaps and points of intervention for improved cardiac maternity care, as well as explore the potential of peer support programmes to reduce the social isolation experienced by women with congenital heart disease. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: The study followed a participatory design, whereby lived experience participants co-produced the research with the study team. The lived experience participants took part in a series of four small-group meetings, focused on sharing experiences and critically reviewing a draft research agenda and questionnaire, developed by the research team based on the groups' shared experiences. Following these meetings, the lived experience participants provided feedback on our analysis and contributed to this manuscript as co-authors.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.