HeartGPS
A study exploring the effects of a new psychological intervention for parents after prenatal diagnosis of single-ventricle congenital heart disease
Babies with single-ventricle congenital heart disease (CHD) are often diagnosed during pregnancy. For parents, learning about their baby’s heart condition during pregnancy is often unexpected and stressful, and many families express a need for support. Yet there is a remarkable lack of prenatal therapies available to support parent mental health and infant neurodevelopment after fetal diagnosis.
This study is taking an unprecedented look at how psychological care during pregnancy can improve parent mental health and wellbeing, and support neurodevelopment for babies with single-ventricle CHD. Our team of researchers from psychology, cardiology, neonatology, computational neuroscience, radiology, genetics, and nursing are working in partnership with families to test a new prenatally-delivered psychological intervention, called HeartGPS. Fetal heart centers across the United States and Australia have joined forces to compare the effects of the HeartGPS program to standard fetal cardiac care. The HeartGPS program includes eight sessions with a trained, licensed psychologist, a suite of tailored educational resources, and a personalized care plan to support longer-term parent, child, and family wellbeing. The focus is on increasing family support and wellbeing, and helping parents bond with their baby in ways that feel right for them. We are examining how HeartGPS affects parent mental health and adjustment to parenthood across the perinatal period, as well as fetal and infant brain development, mother-baby bonding, and infant neurodevelopment and behavior. We are also examining potential changes in the ways moms and babies respond physically to stress. This study capitalizes on a critical window of opportunity, when reducing the impact of parental stress during pregnancy could have enormous lifelong benefits for parents and their baby with CHD.
Learn more about this study here.