Brains, Babies & Bodies: A group psychological intervention for pregnant women living with bipolar disorder – a pilot feasibility and acceptability study

This pilot study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an online 8-week group psychological intervention for pregnant women with bipolar disorder. It will use a mixed methods design utilising both quantitative and qualitative data collection. This study will deliver an 8-week group therapy program designed to meet the unique needs of women with bipolar disorder during the perinatal period. The program will include 8 weekly group sessions, and a 6 month individual follow up interview. The program will incorporate elements of therapies that have been demonstrated to be effective in the management of bipolar disorder in the context of the perinatal period, including: psychoeducation regarding sleep, circadian rhythms, breastfeeding and medication compliance, mindfulness skills and behavioural relaxation techniques, activity scheduling and well-being planning, connecting with social supports and exploring stigma, as well as child development and parenting information. Further to the development of the intervention, this study will assess the feasibility and acceptability of the telehealth platform online via zoom. Two group facilitators will deliver the intervention; both group facilitators are registered psychologists who will monitor the well-being of the participants throughout the group. The NIH (2020) guidelines suggest that research questions for pilot studies such as this should include: Is this innovation safe, acceptable and feasible? Can I recruit the target population? Are the treatment conditions acceptable to the population? Were there anticipated effects? Were there unanticipated effects? Did people participate as expected? As such, it is hypothesised that women with bipolar disorder will find the perinatal 8-week group therapy program both acceptable and feasible. In addition, the online delivery of the intervention, via zoom, will also be feasible and acceptable for pregnant women. The duration of 8 weekly group sessions will approximately 1.5hrs. The group composition will include 6 participants with 2 group facilitators. This intervention will be delivered via the online platform, Zoom. The content will be delivered in the form of a structured powerpoint presentation, followed by a structured group discussion and the completion of the corresponding section of the well-being plan. The duration of the follow-up interview will be approximately 1 hour. Session attendance, homework completion, and drop-out rates will monitored to assess the participant adherence to the intervention.