The time during and after pregnancy is a particularly challenging time for many parents, in which the risk of mental illness can also be increased. About one in five mothers and one in ten fathers experience mental health problems during this phase – peer support can help to overcome these.

What is meant by “Peer Support”?

An effective method of supporting these parents is peer support, where those affected are supported by people who have had similar experiences. Several components are crucial for a successful implementation of peer support programs: contextual background, materials used, support and training of peer supporters, different modes and locations of support, and evaluation of the programs. Lessons learned will help to improve future peer support programmes in the field of perinatal mental health.

Our project assistant and PhD student Laura Hölzle has been working intensively on the topic for quite some time and has recently published the paper “Identifying and synthesizing components of perinatal mental health peer support – a systematic review”, which provides a systematic overview of peer support programs in the field of perinatal mental health .

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