Self-Harm in the Perinatal Period: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Completed Later Suicide In Mental Healthcare Service-Users

Research tells us that self-harm is associated with mental disorder and people who self-harm are at higher risk of suicide. Despite the fact suicide is a significant cause of death of pregnant and postnatal women, and is frequently preceded by self-harm, there is little research into perinatal self-harm itself. I will measure how common it is to self-harm amongst perinatal women in contact with mental healthcare, using CRIS and Hospital Episode Statistics, a database which records when and why patients are admitted to hospital. This linkage will allow me to find out how many SLAM service-users have a linked hospital ‘episode’ for giving birth. I can then search for self-harm events in their perinatal period, within CRIS. By comparing women who did self-harm in the perinatal period with those who did not, I can look for risk factors. By linking with a database that records date/cause of deaths, I can investigate whether they are at higher risk of suicide.