School of Social Work and Social Policy

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Trinity College Dublin
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Soma Gregory

SomaSupervisors: Dr Louise Caffrey, School of Social Work and Social Policy and Dr Deirdre Daly, School Nursing & Midwifery

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Nationality: Irish

Working title of PhD: Women’s, midwives’ and obstetricians’ views on woman-centred maternity care in Ireland: A qualitative study utilising a Systems Theory approach

Description of Research: This study will explore experiences of receiving, and providing, woman-centred maternity care in Ireland.  Both in Ireland, and internationally, a key policy objective for quality maternity services is to provide care that is ‘woman centred’.  Woman-centred care is characterised by respect and responsiveness to an individual’s preferences, needs and values.  Moreover, these values should guide all clinical decisions.  The findings of my published MSc dissertation research (Gregory et al, 2023) found that hospital-based care was perceived less positively than homebirth care by those who had experience of both types of care. In hospitals, respectful and responsive care was found to be comparatively lacking.  This research aims to assess how care provision responds to individuals’ needs and values if these are divergent from the dominant medical approach to care.  This study will use a systems approach to investigate (i) how service-users (those who aspired to birth at home) and those providing their care (midwives and obstetricians) experience and understand woman-centred care, (ii) what informs their understanding and enactment of the concept, and (iii) how the policy intention is co-constructed between stakeholders. This study will help to fill the evidence gap surrounding woman-centred development of maternity services. Additionally, this research aims to feed into the policy process for the forthcoming updated National Maternity Strategy.

Funder of Research: This research is funded by a School of Social Work and Social Policy PhD scholarship.

Seminar Presentations/Conference Presentations/Publications:

Publications:

  • Gregory, S., Caffrey, L., & Daly, D. (2023). "It could not have been more different."  Comparing experiences of hospital-based birth and homebirth in Ireland: A mixed-methods survey.  Women and Birth.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2023.02.003
  • Gregory S., Holt S., Barter C., Christofides N., Maremela O., Mwanda Motjuwadi N., Humphreys C., Elliffe R. & Stanley N. (2022). Public Health Directives in a Pandemic: Paradoxical Messages for Domestic Abuse Victims in Four Countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114148
  • McCaughren, S., Holt, S., Parkes, A. & Gregory, S. (2022). Report commissioned by One Family to develop and disseminate guidance on contact time for infants and young children in separated families. http://hdl.handle.net/10468/14154
  • Holt, S., Elliffe, R., Gregory, S., & Curry P. (2022). Social Workers Response to Domestic Violence and Abuse During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The British Journal of Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcac119
  • Holt, S., Gregory, S., & Elliffe, R. (2022). Opening up a national conversation on domestic abuse: Awareness raising campaigns in Ireland during Covid-19. A Case Study. Available from: https://www.dahlia19study.com/reports
  • Holt, S., Butler, E., Gregory, S., & Elliffe, R. (2021). "Covid was definitely a burden but it was also a gift": Interrogating the Irish response to domestic abuse. Available from: https://www.dahlia19study.com/reports

    Conference papers

    • Gregory, S. Caffrey, L. & Daly, D. (2023, July 4th). "It could not have been more different." Comparing perceptions of hospital-based birth and homebirth in Ireland. Northern Maternity and Midwifery Festival, Manchester, UK.
    • Holt, S., & Gregory, S., Elliffe, R., & Curry P. (2023, Apr 13th). Social work practice with families living with domestic violence and abuse in Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic: Challenges and opportunities. European Conference on Social Work Research, Milan, Italy.
    • Holt, S., & Gregory, S. (2022, Dec 7th) “It was powerful because it was named” Identifying learning from domestic abuse public messaging during Covid-19 to inform future policy. Webinar for the Connect Centre, University Central Lancashire UCLAN (Online).
    • Holt, S., & Gregory, S., Butler, E., & Elliffe, R. (2022, May 10th) "Covid was definitely a burden but it was also a gift": Interrogating the Irish response to domestic abuse. Paper presented at the DAHLIA-19 International Workshop, Lake District, UK.