Mapping the way towards mentally healthy mothers: The development of mental health promotion resources suitable for maternity settings using an Intervention Mapping approach.

Background In Australia, most women experience the perinatal period without mental health difficulties. Strong mental health and wellbeing are linked to better outcomes for both mothers and babies and are closely associated with high-quality midwifery care. However, research has largely focused on midwifery-led interventions aimed at preventing or treating mental illness, with far less attention has been given to actively promoting mental health and wellbeing. To date, no antenatal program exists for midwives specifically designed to support this, and no previous paper has described the process of developing such an intervention for an Australian population. Methods The aim of this paper is to describe the creation of "Space for You", a collection of co-designed mental health promotion resources to nurture mentally healthy mothers using steps 1-4 of Intervention Mapping (IM). Empirical evidence, behaviour change theory, consumer, health professional, public health and maternity service expert feedback were combined to co-design resources suitable for antenatal maternity care settings. Results A thorough needs assessment utilising qualitative and quantitative research methods contributed to the creation of a logic model. Change objectives were mapped against determinants of behaviour and environmental factors to inform the development of theory and practice-informed program outputs. Conclusions The process and execution of each step of IM are presented to describe the development and design of a collection of resources driven by behaviour change theories. This paper provides unique explicit insights into the novel application of IM within an Australian maternity setting.