My work on infant feeding formed the basis of a 4* Impact Case Study for REF2021. My research reached mothers, health professional, infant feeding support volunteers and the general public through online resources, professional development and training resources, workshops and media engagement. I helped provide mothers with a framework to understand and feel better about their experiences, and to promote more understanding towards others. I enabled health professionals and volunteers to feel more confident having non-judgmental conversations about infant feeding. I helped Alberta Health Services (the largest health authority in Canada) develop an inclusive breastfeeding policy. More information can be found here.
I am working with Jules Holroyd, Matthew Cull, and Suki Finn on inclusive language and practice in perinatal care. We run online workshops for anyone who works with new parents or provides support during pregnancy, we have also produced other resources including posters and a video. Find the full detailshere.
I also ran an AHRC Impact Acceleration Account funded project MaMeT (Maternity Mentoring Toolkits) which used philosophical and psychological research to work with a local maternity mentoring company to improve their maternity mentoring toolkits and provide evidence of how businesses can support employees before, during, and after parental leave. More details, including project report and policy briefs can be found here.
For news of the response from myself and Elselijn to proposed changes to Dutch law increasing state powers to intervene when pregnant women smoke or abuse other substances see here. (The article was originally published in a Dutch newspaper. An English translation is available here.)