"I'm an okay mother": the impacts of a video feedback intervention on maternal identity negotiations for women with elevated perinatal depression symptoms.

BACKGROUND

Video feedback interventions have been designed to improve maternal sensitivity by reducing the negative effects of maternal depression symptoms on the quality of mother-infant interaction during the postnatal period. However, little is known about how these interventions may indirectly influence a mother's sense of identity or who she understands herself to be.

METHODS

Eight Australian women, with signs of perinatal depression, participated in a 3-session Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) intervention and a follow-up interview. Their interview responses were qualitatively analysed with a constructivist, inductive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

VIG showed potential to support positive maternal self-concept, through its strengths-based approach. Women reported positive benefits, and their responses engaged with broader cultural discourses of "good" motherhood, which they both reflected and challenged. This process was supported by both the external evidence of the video clips and the insider validation of "seeing" the preferred sense of motherhood identity in action.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings expand the scope of VIG from its original aim of increasing maternal sensitivity, to that of indirectly assisting mothers with forming a more positive and durable sense of motherhood identity. Clinical implications and suggestions for the role of video feedback interventions in maternal depression are discussed, including the need for further research on VIG interventions in this group.