Roisin Bailey

Roisin is using a mixed method study to explore skin to skin contact facilitation strategies in the first six weeks of the postnatal period. The research seeks to examine a variety of outcomes relating to a novel facilitation strategy, including its effect on breastfeeding uptake, exclusivity and longevity, parents’ and midwives’ perceptions and its safety and efficacy. 

The study is based within the NHS maternity inpatient setting, extending to the participants own home. A key component of the research is the development of a mixed methods data collection tool which can be utilized by the participants to promote their autonomy and challenge the traditional researcher-participant power dynamic.

Findings from this research have the potential to affect NHS policy development, as well as addressing key public health concerns, such as trends in infant feeding practices.

Roisin is being supervised by Dr Helen McIntyre and Dr Merryl Harvey, both from the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work. Roisin’s PhD is fully funded by Birmingham City University under the Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant programme. 

Roisin is currently in the process of publishing a written reflection on working with maternity service users with proficiency in a language other than English. This includes practitioner considerations when working with a diverse population of service users, particularly in the event of adverse care outcomes.  

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