Joint PhD Program: Preventing excessive gestational weight gain

A Joint PhD scholarship is available in Deakin University’s School of Nursing & Midwifery, Faculty of Health and the University of Copenhagen’s Graduate School of Health & Medical Sciences in collaboration with Western Health. The PhD student will initiate and conduct research as part of a joint doctoral research project on the topic ’Preventing excessive gestational weight gain’ led by Prof Bodil Rasmussen (Deakin) and Prof Bente Stallknecht & A/Prof Vibeke Zoffmann (the University of Copenhagen). The successful applicant will be based at the Deakin’s Melbourne Burwood Campus and at University of Copenhagen.

Prevention of obesity in women of reproductive age is widely recognised to be important both for their health and for that of their babies. In maternal care difficulties in supporting women’s health weight gain during pregnancy is a challenge and expressed by the fact that more than more than half of Australian adults have a body weight that puts their health at risk. Weight-control interventions, including drug treatment, in pregnant women who are obese or overweight have not had sufficient impact on pregnancy and birth outcomes, which suggests that the focus for intervention should include preconception or post-partum periods.

The research will focus on health professionals working with women in pre-conception stage or early in their pregnancy where an improvement is expected to be highly cost-effective in preventing late complications and enhancing psychosocial health. The main objective is to test a structured and evidence-based digital intervention that aims to support women’s autonomy, participation, skills building and intrinsic motivation. A core method to be applied is Guided Self-Determination (GSD) which has proved effective in a randomised controlled study for obese adults and in other conditions eg, diabetes, cancer, mental health. Having proved robust across different settings GSD will be offered in a digital program flexible enough to meet the needs of obese women considering pregnancy or already pregnant.

A primary research question asks: Can the GSD digital tool be used effectively by health professionals to motivate and support pregnant women to maintain healthy weight during pregnancy?

The specific objectives of the study are to:

1. Develop the Guided Self-Determination program for online delivery
2. Develop, deliver and evaluate the training program in Guided Self-Determination for midwives, nurses and GP/obstetricians
3. Measure pregnant women weight control before and after (3 and 6 months) completing the Guided Self-Determination online program.

A pragmatic implementation trial will be conducted to evaluate the efficacy of using of the GSD digital tool in the maternity health system. The trial will involve stakeholder engagement and co-design implementation strategies to foster uptake and sustainability. A control usual care group will be recruited to make the pilot feasibility and trial significant.

The University of Copenhagen – Deakin University joint PhD program offers research students an unparalleled international experience, working alongside world-class researchers across two continents. Joint degree students spend time working with their supervisors at both universities. As a result, they gain unique exposure to different cultural and scientific environments and substantially increase their employability after graduation. Upon completion of the joint degree program, students receive a dually badged internationally recognised doctoral degree from both institutions.