Research Seminar between the e-Perinatal and MadresUP Projects

On Friday, February 27, we held the Research Seminar “Cultural Adaptation of the mHealth e-Perinatal Intervention: Collaboration between the MadresUP and e-Perinatal Projects” at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Seville, with the participation of members from both research teams.

This seminar is part of the study “Intercultural Co-Design of the mHealth e-Perinatal Intervention: A Qualitative Study with Culturally Minoritized Women in the Perinatal Stage,” whose aim is to co-design, together with Latin American and African migrant mothers, Roma mothers, and health and social care professionals, a culturally adapted mobile intervention focused on the prevention and promotion of perinatal mental health. This study arises from the establishment of collaborative synergies between the e-Perinatal and MadresUP research projects.

The e-Perinatal project aims to prevent mental health problems in women during the perinatal period (from pregnancy to one year postpartum) and in their partners, while promoting the well-being of their babies. Specifically, the project seeks to conduct a pilot trial of the e-Perinatal application to evaluate its effectiveness and feasibility in routine clinical practice, with the support of the Andalusian Health Service. The project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the Horizon Europe framework (101042139) and is led by Dr. Emma Motrico, Associate Professor in the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Perinatal-IBiS Lab research group (Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, IBiS).

The MadresUP project aims to enhance the psychosocial well-being of Latina, African, and Roma women by fostering resilient and empowered motherhood, using a methodology based on peer mentoring, mutual support groups, and accompaniment by non-minoritized mothers. The project is funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by FEDER/UE (PID2022-142648NB-I00) and is led by Dr. Virginia Paloma, Associate Professor in the Department of Social Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Community Research and Action Center of the University of Seville (CESPYD).

During the seminar, the results obtained from five focus groups conducted with Latin American, African, and Roma mothers, as well as with health and social care professionals who work with them, were analyzed in order to culturally tailor the content, design, and usability of the e-Perinatal mHealth intervention.

This seminar has enabled progress in this collaborative working process aimed at ensuring that the e-Perinatal mHealth intervention appropriately responds to the needs, strengths, and sociocultural contexts of culturally minoritized mothers during the perinatal stage.