Emma Motrico, Professor and Researcher in the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Seville and member of the Perinatal IBiS Lab at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS), has been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept grant worth €150,000 by the European Research Council (ERC). This funding will support the development of the project “AI-Powered Clinical Decision Support System to Integrate Perinatal Mental Health into Routine Maternal Healthcare – e-Perinatal–Clinical”, aimed at systematically integrating perinatal mental health into routine clinical practice.

This new project builds on the results achieved through an ERC Starting Grant awarded to Motrico in 2022, which enabled her and her team to develop the e-Perinatal application. This digital tool, designed for women and their partners, focuses on the prevention of perinatal mental disorders during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. Implemented in collaboration with the Andalusian Health Service (SAS), the project has demonstrated high levels of acceptability and strong potential for the prevention and management of perinatal mental disorders in real-world healthcare settings.

Based on this scientific evidence, the new Proof of Concept project seeks to translate the e-Perinatal programme into a scalable, artificial intelligence–based Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) for maternal healthcare professionals, including midwives, nurses and obstetricians. This system will enable the systematic integration of perinatal mental health into routine maternal care and has the potential to transform maternal health services worldwide.

The project is led by a multidisciplinary team that includes Alberto and Jesús Moreno from the Innovation Unit of the Virgen Macarena University Hospital, and Miguel Ángel Armengol de la Hoz, Head of the Big Data Department at the Andalusian Public Foundation Progress and Health. Together, they will develop a new CDSS incorporating a risk prediction engine trained on electronic health records from more than one million pregnant women; an AI-based conversational assistant powered by large language models and grounded in validated screening tools and clinical guidelines; a rule-based clinical filtering algorithm that will recommend a prioritised list of over 300 evidence-based digital micro-interventions included in the original e-Perinatal application; and a digital twin of the perinatal mental healthcare pathway, providing a dynamic replica of care trajectories across both routine and hospital-based maternal care.

The clinical e-Perinatal platform will be delivered as a web-based application accessible via computer, smartphone or tablet, designed to support shared decision-making in routine maternal care through real-time dialogue and choice. Developed through co-design processes with end users and guided by principles of Responsible Artificial Intelligence, including explainable AI (XAI), as well as Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE), the project aims to ensure transparency, trust and ethical adoption. In this area, the project benefits from the expertise of Professor Octavio Rivera Romero from the Department of Electronic Technology at the University of Seville, an expert in explainable AI.

This Proof of Concept proposal represents a bold translation of frontier research in maternal health into a novel, high-impact digital innovation, with strong potential for scalability, commercialisation and sustainable integration into maternal mental healthcare systems worldwide. Andalusia will be the first region globally to implement this technology through the Andalusian Health Service.

Perinatal mental disorders, such as postnatal depression, affect approximately one in five individuals from pregnancy through to the first year after childbirth, making them the most common complications associated with maternity. These conditions entail significant economic costs and adverse consequences for mothers, partners and children alike, positioning them as a major public health priority. However, a persistent implementation gap within healthcare services continues to hinder the provision of effective preventive and supportive care within maternal health systems.