School of Nursing and Midwifery Scholarly Impact Report 2021

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CATHERINE MCAULEY SCHOOL OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY, UCC

TRANSLATING EVIDENCE & INNOVATION FOR HEALTH

Maternity, Families and Primary Care PhD Scholarship Award - An eHealth intervention to improve psychosocial outcomes for women in the perinatal period

Maternity, Families and Primary Care PhD Scholarship Award - The development and pilot testing of an intervention to enhance the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding

My name is Róisín Bradley, and I am a PhD scholarship student in the School of Nursing and Midwifery (SONM), at University College Cork (UCC). I also work as a Midwife in Cork University Maternity Hospital. In 2014, I qualified from UCC with a First-Class Honours in BSc Midwifery. Since then, I have completed an MA in Women and Gender Studies in UCC and have gained a broad range of experience working in community, hospital, and educational settings, both here in Ireland and abroad. In October 2021 I was awarded a School of Nursing and Midwifery student scholarship with the Maternity, Families and Primary Care Research Group, to undertake a PhD. The aim of my research is to develop and test the feasibility of a person-centred psychosocial eHealth intervention underpinned by theory to improve psychosocial outcomes of women in the perinatal period. To date, much of my work has involved supporting families during pregnancy and the early years who were living with

PhD Candidate: Mary O’Connor, Year 1

Supervisors: Dr Helen Mulcahy, College Lecturer and Director of External Relations and Communications at the School of Nursing & Midwifery; Professor Patricia Leahy-Warren, Director of Graduate Studies, Chair of Academic Council Graduate Studies Committee; Dr Margaret Murphy, Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery; Dr Michelle O’Driscoll, Senior Post- Doctoral Researcher, School of Nursing and Midwifery.

Mary O’Connor, Specialist Coordinator of Midwifery, Centre of Nursing and Midwifery Education, University Hospital Kerry was awarded a School of Nursing and Midwifery student scholarship with the Maternity, Families and Primary Care Research Group, to undertake a PhD. A registered Nurse, Midwife, Public Health Nurse and nurse tutor, Mary has many years’ experience of supporting women and their families with breastfeeding. Mary says “I feel very honoured to be the recipient of this scholarship. It has givenme the confidence that with my experience, dedication and hard work, along with the support of my supervisors, I can contribute to the academic literature to inform practice to support women with breastfeeding.”

increased adversity and psychosocial risk factors. Through this work, I have observed the long- lasting effects improved psychosocial support can have during the perinatal period on families and their wider community. Therefore, I feel very privileged to have received the opportunity to conduct research which will hopefully improve psychosocial outcomes, not only in the perinatal period, but also for future generations. This funded scholarship means so much to me, as it has enabled me to carry out research in an area that I passionate about, without the financial pressure that is a reality for many postgraduate students. Furthermore, I was excited at the opportunity to become a part time student as this has enabled me to pursue my passion for research, whilst continuing to work clinically, part time as a midwife, alongside women and their families. I am delighted to have the expertise and extensive experience of my supervisors here in the SONM at UCC: Prof Patricia Leahy-Warren; Dr Karen Matvienko-Sikar; Dr Geri McLoughlin; Dr Sunita Panda; and Lloyd Philpott.