Translational research has become one of the key concepts of medical science in the 21st century, with academics and clinicians coming together in a joint effort to bring findings from basic research into the clinical setting so that they can benefit patients. Channi Kumar may not have recognized this phrase, but his work was truly translational. Indeed his perinatal research programme was bi-directional in its translation. As a clinician and an academic, Channi’s research was informed by his clinical work with mothers suffering from severe mental illness (SMI) following childbirth. He recognized the importance of treating a mother’s mental illness, while at the same supporting her in the care of her baby. His clinical work on the Mother and Baby Unit at the Bethlem Royal Hospital gave rise to research into the understanding of antenatal and postnatal mental illness and its effects on the child as well as into improving services and treatment for women and their babies. In this chapter we will show how two of Channi’s flagship studies, the South London Child Development Study (SLCDS) and a video feedback intervention programme on the Mother and Baby Unit, continue to gather evidence and to inform perinatal guidelines in the 21st century. The SLCDS is unique in that it is one of the first longitudinal studies of women’s mental health and its impact on the children to begin during pregnancy. Specifically, families from two inner-city London General Practice sites were initially recruited into a longitudinal prospective study of emotional disorders related to childbirth when the women were pregnant between 1 January and 31 December 1986. It has followed the lives of 151 families through pregnancy and the index child’s first year, with 86% participating when the index child was 4 years, 89% at 11 years, and 83% at 16 years. At the outset of the study, the mean age of the women was 25.9 years (range 16–43 years); 60% were married, 32% had a regular partner, and 8% were single; 78% were of white British origin; 86% were working class; 30% had no educational qualifications.
The critique of psychiatry as we enter the third decade of the 21st century
