Global Research Study
The Stillbirth Centre of Research Excellence is coordinating a global research study to understand the challenges and concerns of parents who are pregnant or have recently given birth during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
We also want to understand the experiences of parents who have lost their baby to stillbirth or neonatal death. We extend our condolences to you and your family during this difficult time.
We hope that our research can help improve future care for all families around the world.
The global research study involves participants from Australia, Italy, Spain, UK, Canada, USA and many others.
Who should complete this survey?
You are invited to take part in this survey if you or your partner are currently pregnant or have had your baby since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak – from 30th January, 2020. We also wish to invite parents who have experienced the death of their baby during this time.
Both mothers and fathers/partners are welcome to participate.
This survey should take approximately 25 minutes to complete.
How is my information used?
By completing this survey, your responses will help us to understand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on families and the types of support that may help at such a time. Your responses will help to identify where maternity care and bereavement care can be improved for parents during the current COVID-19 outbreak. It will also be useful to help in planning better responses if such outbreaks happen in the future.
The information you provide in the survey cannot to be used to identify you. We do not ask you to provide your name or any other contact details as part of the survey.
Some country sites are also interested in following-up with participants to see how you are coping and if the COVID-19 outbreak has had any further impact on you and your family. If you are a member of one of these sites, at the end of this survey if you would like to participate further, you can choose to leave your name and contact details so that we contact you. Please note, your responses will then no longer be anonymous as your name and contact details will be attached to them.
Once the study has finished and we start analysing the responses from this survey, all data will be grouped and results presented together (not individually). You will be able to access our overall study results from this website in the future.
This study has been approved by Mater Misericordiae Ltd Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number: (HREC/MML/63526).
Further information and who to contact
Once you have read the Participant Information Form, please email the research team on stillbirthcre@mater.uq.edu.au if you have any questions.
For information on support services, please click on the country you live in below:
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The COCOON study in Australia is being led by researchers at the Stillbirth CRE in partnership with Raising Children’s Network and national parent bereavement organisations the Stillbirth Foundation Australia, Sands, Red Nose, and Bears of Hope.
Once you have read the Participant Information Form, if you have any questions please email the COCOON Global Research Coordinator, Dr Siobhan Loughnan on siobhan.loughnan@mater.uq.edu.au or the research team on stillbirthcre@mater.uq.edu.au.
Information & support services in Australia
If you are currently experiencing symptoms or are concerned about COVID-19, please call the National Coronavirus Helpline on 1800 020 080 which operates 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. For further information regarding the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation in Australia, please visit: https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
For information and resources to support your mental health during this time, please go to the Head to Health COVID-19 support page - https://headtohealth.gov.au/covid-19-support/covid-19. If you are feeling distressed and would like to speak to someone for support or information, please contact one of the below organisations:
- Lifeline Australia – immediate mental health and crisis support, and suicide prevention – open 24/7 (via phone); 7pm-midnight AEST (via online chat), visit www.lifeline.org.au or call 13 11 14
- Suicide Call Back Service – support if you or someone you know is feeling suicidal – open 24/7 (via phone & online chat), visit https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au or call 1300 659 467
- Beyondblue – mental health support – open 24/7 (via phone); 3pm-midnight, 7 days/week (via online chat), visit www.beyondblue.org.au or call 1300 224 636
- Mensline Australia – support and information for Australian men – open 24/7 (via phone & online chat), visit www.mensline.org.au or call 1300 789 97
- Relationships Australia – relationship support service for individuals and families including counselling, family dispute resolution and community support – visit http://www.relationships.org.au or call 1300 364 277
- 1800RESPECT – a national counselling, information, and referral service for all Australians who have experienced, or are at risk of family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault – open 24/7 (via phone & online chat), visit http://www.1800respect.org.au or call 1800 737 732.
For information and resources on pregnancy and having a newborn baby during COVID-19, please see the following websites:
For information and support for grieving parents after the loss of your baby, as well as for family/friends, we encourage you to contact the following specialised support services:
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The COCOON study in Canada is being coordinated by the Stillbirth CRE in partnership with the Francophonie research team at the University of Quebec.
If you have any questions, please email the Global research team on stillbirthcre@mater.uq.edu.au
For information on the COVID-19 outbreak, please visit:
For mental health support, please visit:
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The COCOON francophone study is being led by researchers at the University of Quebec in partnership with Parents Orphelins. If you have any questions, please contact the research team via email on cocon@uqo.ca.
Please go to the COCON website: https://cerif.uqo.ca/fr/projet-cocon for more information and to start the survey.
SVP, écrire a cocon@uqo.ca pour toutes questions à propos de l’étude francophone portée par l’équipe québécoise ou consulter https://cerif.uqo.ca/fr/projet-cocon
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The COCOON study in India is being led by researchers at the Fernandez Hospital Educational & Research Foundation (FHERF) in partnership with Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.
For more information, please contact the country principle investigator - Ms. Indie Kaur on indie.k@fernandez.foundation OR contact the country coordinating team on sowmya.t@fernandez.foundation, rakhi.dandona@phfi.org and drneelamaggarwal@gmail.com.
For information on the COVID-19 outbreak in India, please call:
- Central Helpline Number for Corona-virus: +91-11-23978046
For support services in India, please visit:
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India: +91-11-2397 8046; Toll Free: 1075; Helpline Email ID: ncov2019@gov.in
For psychosocial mental health support during pregnancy and after the birth of your baby, please visit:
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India: _91-080-4611 007
- Armaan – An India-based non profit organization committed to improving the well being of pregnant mothers, newborn infants and children in the first five years of their life – Toll Free: 1-800-2121-425; or visit https://armman.org
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The COCOON study in Ireland is being led by researchers at the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, INFANT Research Centre, University College Cork.
For more information, please contact the country research coordinators –
Dr Keelin O Donoghue at k.odonoghe@ucc.ie OR Dr Margaret Murphy at mgt.murphy@ucc.ie
For further information on COVID-19 and support services in Ireland please see below links:
- If you are currently experiencing symptoms or are concerned about contact with a possible COVID-19 case, phone your GP. Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. The GP will assess you over the phone. If you do not have a GP, any GP can arrange a test for you.
- In an emergency situation phone 999 or 112.
- For further information see HSE website - https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus.html
For general information on COVID-19 in Ireland
For information and resources to support your mental health during this time, please go to:
For information and resources on pregnancy and birth during COVID-19, please see the following websites:
For information and support for bereaved parents or family/friends, please contact one of the below websites/organisations:
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The COCOON study in the Netherlands is being led by researchers at the University Medical Hospital of Groningen.
If you have any questions, please email the research coordinator - Jet van der Hulst via email on j.van.der.hulst@umcg.nl
For information on the COVID-19 outbreak, please visit:
For mental health support services in the Netherlands, please visit:
For suicide prevention:
- Zelfmoordpreventielijn 24/7 te bereiken op nummer 0900-0113.
If you are feeling unsafe at home/for domestic violence:
- Veilig Thuis 24/7 te bereiken op nummer 0800-2000 of via de chat op hun website www.veiligthuis.nl (maandag t/m vrijdag 09:00 – 17:00).
- Bezoek www.deluisterlijn.nl of bel op nummer 0900-0767 (24/7)
- Ga naar www.mindkorrelatie.nl of bel 0900-1450 (ma t/m vrij: 09:00 – 22:00/ za & zo: 09:00 – 18:00).
For mental health support during pregnancy or after the birth of your baby, please visit:
- Bel met uw eigen huisarts, verloskundige of ziekenhuis om psychosociale zorg tijdens de zwangerschap te ontvangen.
For bereavement support:
De COCOON-studie in Nederland wordt geleid door onderzoekers van het Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen.
Mocht u vragen hebben over het onderzoek, stuurt u dan een e-mail naar Jet van der Hulst op j.van.der.hulst@umcg.nl onder begeleiding van dr. S.J. Gordijn.
Voor informatie over de COVID-19 uitbraak, bezoekt u:
Voor geestelijke gezondheidsdiensten in Nederland kunt u terecht op:
Voor zelfmoordpreventie:
- Zelfmoordpreventielijn 24/7 te bereiken op nummer 0900-0113.
Als u zich onveilig voelt thuis / voor huiselijk geweld:
- Veilig Thuis 24/7 te bereiken op nummer 0800-2000 van via de chat op hun website www.veiligthuis.nl (maandag t/m vrijdag 09:00 – 17:00).
- Bezoek www.deluisterlijn.nl bel op nummer 0900-0767 (24/7)
- Ga naar www.mindkorrelatie.nl van bel 0900-1450 (ma t/m vrij: 09:00 – 22:00/ za & zo: 09:00 – 18:00).
Voor geestelijke gezondheidsondersteuning tijdens de zwangerschap of na de geboorte van uw baby kunt u terecht op:
- Bel met uw eigen huisarts, verloskundige van ziekenhuis om psychosociale zorg tijdens de zwangerschap te ontvangen.
Voor rouw ondersteuning verwijzen wij u graag door naar:
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The COCOON study in New Zealand is being led by researchers at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Auckland.
If you have any questions, please email the global research team on stillbirthcre@mater.uq.edu.au
If you are currently experiencing symptoms or are concerned about contact with a possible COVID-19 case, please call the Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453. For further information about Covid-19 in New Zealand you can access Covid-19 Questions and Answers by going to: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus
For information and resources to support your mental health during this time, please go to the Unite against COVID-19 mental wellbeing page: https://covid19.govt.nz/wellbeing/mentalwellbeing.
If you are feeling distressed and would like to speak to someone for support or
information, please contact one of the below organisations:
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Lifeline – immediate mental health and crisis support, and suicide prevention – open 24/7 (phone); 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 1737(HELP)
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Suicide Crisis Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
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Depression and Anxiety Helpline – Call 0800 111 757 or free text 4202 to talk to a trained counsellor. For more information and support for depression and anxiety visit
https://www.thelowdown.co.nz
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Shine – Confidential domestic abuse helpline 0508 744 633 or visit www.2shine.org.nz.
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Women’s Refuge – Call 0800 733 843 (0800 REFUGE)
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Hey Bro helpline – Call 0800 439 279 (0800 HEYBRO). 24-hour support for men who feel they are going to harm a loved one or whanau member.
In a crisis or emergency, please call 111 or call your local mental health crisis assessment team - https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/helplines-and-mental-health-services
For information and resources on pregnancy and having a newborn baby during COVID-19, please see the following websites:
- Unite against covid-19 – for advice on keeping children safe and reassured go to https://covid19.govt.nz/wellbeing/mental-wellbeing/where-to-go-for-help
- Parent Help 0800 568 856 – for parents/whanau seeking support, advice and practical strategies on all parenting concerns.
- Pregnancy Help – free practical assistance, information and advice during pregnancy and early childhood https://pregnancyhelp.org.nz
- Family Services 211 Helpline – 0800 211 211 for help finding community-based health and social services in your area.
If at any time you feel that you need grief support, we encourage you to contact the following
specialised bereavement care support services:
- Sands –nationwide support group for parents and families who have experienced the death of a baby at any gestation or age, under any circumstances. www.sands.org.nz
- SIDS and Kids NZ – provides a 24-hour sudden infant death helpline 0800 164 455 or visit www.sidsandkids.org.nz.
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The UK study arm of COCOON has now closed. Thank you.
The COCOON Study in the UK is being led by researchers at King's College London (Lead Investigator: Professor Jane Sandall & Research Co-Ordinator: Sergio A. Silverio) in partnership with the International Stillbirth Alliance (Claire Storey), Sands (Janet Scott), and Tommy’s (Lizzie D’Angelo).
For more information, please contact the Research Co-ordinator Sergio A. Silverio (King’s College London) on: Maternity-Studies@kcl.ac.uk
Further information on COVID-19 and support services in the UK:
If you are currently experiencing symptoms or are concerned about contact with a possible COVID-19 case, please call the National Health Service 111 Service by dialling 111 which operates 24hrs a day, 7 days a week.
For further information regarding the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation in the UK, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
For information and resources to support your mental health during this time, please go to the Mental Health Foundation Coronavirus support page -https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/coronavirus.
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The COCOON study in the USA is being coordinated by the Stillbirth CRE, in partnership with the International Stillbirth Alliance, Maple Grove Hospital Minnesota, Star Legacy, 2 degree Foundation and DAI Global Health.
If you have any questions, please email the global research team at stillbirthcre@mater.uq.edu.au
For information on the COVID-19 outbreak, please visit:
For US mental health support services, please visit:
For suicide prevention:
If you are feeling unsafe at home/for domestic violence:
For postpartum stress and anxiety:
- Contact PSI (Postpartum Support International) by calling 1-800-944-4773 (English and Spanish) or visiting https://www.postpartum.net/. You may also text: 503-894-9453 (English) or 971-420-0294 (Español).
For bereavement support:
For mental health support:
