Feasibility and acceptability of a brief routine weight management intervention for postnatal women embedded within the national child immunisation programme

The prevalence of obesity in the UK is high. Postnatal weight gain and/or retention can increase the likelihood of women developing obesity. This thesis aimed to review existing literature on effective lifestyle interventions to inform the development of a trial to test a behavioural postnatal weight management intervention delivered within routine primary care consultations. The research also aimed to explore participants’ experiences of the intervention. A review of systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials (RCT) identified evidence supporting the use of postnatal behavioural weight management interventions, however the intensity of many of these interventions reduced their acceptability. A feasibility cluster RCT with a nested qualitative study was developed to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a brief behavioural weight management intervention delivered in primary care within routine practice nurse consultations. The findings demonstrated that it was feasible for nurses to deliver the intervention, but recruitment of postnatal women was low and adherence to the intervention varied. Semi-structured interviews showed that postnatal women found it acceptable to be weighed by practice nurses at child immunisation appointments. Nurses indicated that primary care settings were suitable locations for postnatal weight management but raised some concerns (immunisation safety and prolonging time restricted appointments by providing weight management advice). In conclusion, a brief weight management intervention embedded within child immunisation appointments appeared feasible to deliver although, the low recruitment rate may suggest the intervention is not acceptable to postnatal women