Assessing the effects of group perinatal compassion focused therapy in a National Health Service Talking Therapies service in England

Background To address the prevalence of perinatal mental health difficulties in the United Kingdom (UK), the National Health Service’s (NHS) Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression programme aims to prioritise perinatal service users to receive evidence-based psychological therapy. Perinatal compassion focused therapy (P-CFT) is an intervention being offered to perinatal women as part of this aim. This evaluation intends to provide a preliminary exploration of P-CFT’s acceptability and potential benefits to service users. Methods In this repeated measures cohort design, a retrospective analysis using data from P-CFT groups delivered between 2021 and 2024 on service users’ levels of mood (anxiety and depression), compassion (self-criticism and self-reassurance), postpartum bonding, and group attendance were examined through analyses between pre- and postintervention scores. Results Thirty-six perinatal women were included in the evaluation in ten P-CFT groups. Using paired samples t-tests ( n = 36), the findings indicated that P-CFT led to significant improvements in compassion alongside reductions in mood-related symptoms and any self-reported difficulties in postpartum bonding. Effect sizes ranged from moderate to high. The average retention rate across the included ten groups was 48.0%. Conclusion The results indicated that completion of the P-CFT groups might potentially benefit mothers in the perinatal period. Nevertheless, the overall low retention rate suggested potentially poor acceptability of the intervention or poor engagement related to their ability to attend, or other feasibility factors. Further investigation is required to explore the potential facilitators and barriers to implementing P-CFT in perinatal mental health settings, including NHS Talking Therapies settings.