Aims
Using lived experience co-design, this study tested the validity of the InsideOut Institute Screener for the Perinatal Population (IOI-SP) as a tool for identifying adolescents and adults displaying eating disorder symptomatology during pregnancy and postpartum. Successfully validating this tool could enable eating disorder screening to become standard practice in antenatal and postnatal care, improving early identification and preventing serious maternal and infant health complications.

Background
Eating disorders are prevalent during the perinatal period. Those who have remitted from their illness face significant relapse risk, while others develop an eating disorder for the first time. Eating disorders are linked to high-risk pregnancies (including higher rates of hyperemesis, hospitalisation, and miscarriage) and adverse outcomes for infants (such as increased preterm birth and microcephaly). Prompt detection of perinatal eating disorders is crucial, yet many remain undiagnosed due to stigma and inadequate professional response. Moreover, no routine processes to identify perinatal eating disorders have existed in women’s health services, nor has there been a validated tool for perinatal use.

Recruitment now open: https://redcap.sydney.edu.au/surveys/?s=PDT47PDM4AN9E438