NEW research has unearthed a link between green space and the wellbeing of mums-to-be.

Guiseley mum, Karen Stanley, was one of those questioned for the study, which looked at the impact of nature on depression in pregnant women.

The Born in Bradford findings showed living in green spaces can alleviate symptoms and lead to happier and healthier mums and babies.

Said to be the first of its kind to show a beneficial relationship between green space and depressive symptoms in pregnant women, the study has now been published in the British medical Journal-owned Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

A total of 7,547 mums were questioned about how they felt when they were pregnant and, in addition, the team collected detailed lifestyle information.

Researchers looked at women who reported symptoms of severe depression, and used satellites to calculate how green the environment in which they lived was. They then examined the relationship between green space and depression, factoring out all the other important lifestyle, demographic and socio-economic factors.

The key findings showed 33.5 per cent of women reported at least one severe depressive symptom, whereas those living in the greenest areas of Bradford were about 20 per cent less likely to report feeling depressed. The beneficial effects of green space also appeared stronger for more disadvantaged groups.

Programme manager, Rosie McEachan, said: "This is a really important finding as it means we can make changes at an environment level, which will have a larger benefit for our communities in most need.

"Efforts should be made to increase the availability of green space at a policy level and utilisation of green space at an individual level."

BiB is led by Professor John Wright, and the research team is based at the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Karen Stanley, 34, lives in Guiseley, and her third son, Joel was born six weeks ago. She told researchers moving house helped her to enjoy the third pregnancy more than her previous two.

"We are really lucky where we live because at either end of the street we have green space – a park and playing fields – whereas when I had my first two boys, we lived in a more built-up area," she said.

Despite suffering from back and leg problems and having to spend an increasing amount of time in a wheelchair towards the end of the pregnancy, Karen still managed to get outdoors.

"We headed to wheelchair-friendly parks and spaces and spent as much time outdoors as we could," she said. "I definitely get stir-crazy when I am indoors – I don’t like being stuck in."

She added: "Over the years, I have suffered from depression, but when I became pregnant this time, I stopped taking my medication and I never found I needed it during that time or after Joel was born, and I’m sure that’s because I have all these lovely green areas on my doorstep and can get out and enjoy them.”