Tommy’s was looking to improve and expand their Planning for Pregnancy tool, and their supporting ‘Are You Ready?’ campaign, both aimed at improving support for women with mental health conditions. These activities are a complement to their work with King’s College London developing a content hub for women with serious mental health considering having a baby.

To inform these developments, we conducted in-depth interviews with women with serious mental health issues. We also spoke to a range of healthcare professionals (HCPs) in primary and secondary care with expertise in women’s mental health and pregnancy and covering community roles through to psychiatric specialism. Our focus was to gain insight into both what women want and need around the topic but also to understand some important parameters around how the tool is experienced and used. This is a very sensitive area where women carry significant fear and will disengage if approached in the wrong way.

We found that the concept of both the tool and a ‘journey to pregnancy’ was valued by women in sensitively signposting things to consider and do, and by HCPs as an aid to conversation. We were able to guide Tommy’s on content scope and flow, the specific language that works well to build trust on this issue and expectations and needs around follow-on support. We also provided pen portraits to illustrate the breadth of experiences and attitudes amongst the audience to help with tailoring the tool and supporting campaign.