Maternal Child and Family Health Research Group

Investing in the health and wellbeing of women, children and families
Maternal Child and Family Health Research Group

Led by Professor Jill Shawe, we work with national and international collaborators to investigate maternal, child and family health.

Our current research focus:

PREPARE: Programme of Research and Education in Preconception Care. 

    This includes:  
  • nutrition and fertility after weight loss (metabolic) surgery
  • interventions to prevent and manage gestational diabetes
  • periconception care in women with pre-existing medical conditions.  
Systematic evidence-based reviews of maternal and reproductive health.

Sexual health of vulnerable groups.

Asthma and pregnancy.

Our projects

Our most recent publications

Maslin K, James A, Brown A, Bogaerts A, Shawe J. What is known about the nutritional intake of women during pregnancy following bariatric surgery? A scoping review.  Nutrients 2019, 11(9), 2116; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11092116. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/9/2116

Shawe J, Ceulemans D, Akhter Z, Neff K, Hart K, Heslehurst N, Štotl I, Agrawal S, Steegers-Theunissen R, Taheri S, Greenslade B, Rankin J, Huda B, Douek I, Galjaard S, Blumenfeld O, Robinson A, Whyte M, Mathews E, Devlieger R.Pregnancy after bariatric surgery: Consensus recommendations for periconception, antenatal and postnatal care.Obes Rev. 2019 Aug 16. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31419378

Shawe J, Patel D, Joy M, Howden B, Barrett G, Stephenson J. Preparation for fatherhood: A survey of men's preconception health knowledge and behaviour in England. PLoS One. 2019 Mar 20;14(3):e0213897. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30893380

We held our inaugural symposium on 11 July 2019, with attendees from the University, health services, and local organisations.

We had two excellent speakers:

  • “Before, between and beyond: Lifestyle interventions for healthy families” | Dr Annick Bogaerts, Assistant Professor at KU Leuven, Department Development and Regeneration, Research Unit Women & Child, Leuven, Belgium.
  • “Happy and healthy smiles! Oral health messages” | Wendy Smith MBE, Strategic Lead for Community Engagement, Well Connected, Plymouth
Recordings of the presentations are now available on Panopto


Our researchers