11 Nov Conference showcases holistic approaches to addressing inequalities in maternity and perinatal mental health and care
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18 November 2025
Conference showcases holistic approaches to addressing inequalities in maternity and perinatal mental health and care
A packed room of more than 100 health professionals, researchers, policymakers and charities heard about the innovative multidisciplinary research at NIHR ARC South London and the Maternal and Perinatal Systems and Policy (MAPS) Research Group at King’s College London, and how this work is informing clinical guidance and helping to improve services.
The event was held on Tuesday 4 November 2025 at the ORTUS in Camberwell, south London. As the NIHR ARC South London programme comes to an end in March 2026, this event was an opportunity to share highlights, findings and future research developments from research led by PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and peer researchers.
“A lot of research describes problems, rather than trying to fix them: the ARC’s maternity and perinatal theme is different. Its research is embedded in the community and focused on partnership working with women to make a real difference to their lives.”
Professor Ingrid Wolfe — ARC South London director
Research highlighted at the conference
Research highlighted included:
- Projects aiming to improve care and outcomes for women with perinatal illness and social complexity
- Addressing maternal health inequalities through public involvement, co-design and peer research
- Improving care, experience and outcomes for women and their babies with medical and social complexity
- New research addressing maternal health systems and policy
Panel discussions
Panel discussions focused on creating meaningful change through partnership engagement, and working with innovation and implementation partners to sustain impact.
“I want to get involved in research when I see that power is balanced, humanised and there are reciprocal benefits for public involvement, such as training opportunities.”
Zenab Barry — patient and public involvement partner and maternal health, health equity and mental health advocate
Panel discussion. Pictured from left: Gemma Jones, head of programmes for King’s Health Partners Women and Children’s Clinical Academic Partnership; Zenab Barry, patient and public involvement partner; Dr Natasha Curran, medical director, Health Innovation Network and implementation and involvement lead, ARC South London.
Panel discussion. Pictured from left: Maria Viner, CEO Mothers for Mothers; Kaat de Backer, NIHR research fellow in maternal and perinatal mental health, King’s College London; Brooklyn Masters, expert by experience; Kirsty Kitchen, director of the Birth Companions Institute.The MORE photo exhibition
A preview of an emotive photo exhibition from the Maternity Outcomes Research and Engagement (MORE) project — created by mothers — highlighted their experiences and insights of motherhood. One of the creators, Tania Sutedja, said the exhibition features:
“Stories of love, strength and identity — it is a celebration of the beauty and strength in every journey in motherhood.”
The photos in the exhibition have three themes:
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The work you don’t see: hidden labour, expectations and finding a voice
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Building connections: support that strengthens not supplants
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Uniqueness in a shared journey: every pregnancy and child is different
Voices from the day
“This project was like a family. I have experienced true growth from being part of this peer research. Your voice can be heard and it [research] can be done effectively.”
Abigail Mensah — peer researcher in the MORE project
“It’s about addressing the elephant in the room. People often see the problem, but don’t know how to discuss it. We need to always have open and honest conversations about problems and solutions.”
Brooklyn Masters — expert by experience
“It has been a totally different way of working – breaking down barriers, sitting down to a hot lunch and working collaboratively with peer researchers – in a way that feels more equal than traditional research methods.”
Zoe Vowles — researcher midwife, King’s College London
Closing reflections
The day finished with a range of presentations looking to the future of maternal health systems and policy research at King’s College London.
“Today we’ve been talking about women, not health conditions or illnesses. These are women who have issues with accessing care and our aim is to make it easier for them to access the care they need, by carrying out applied health research, working with partners to produce solutions.”
Professor Jane Sandall CBE — ARC South London maternity and perinatal mental health co-lead
Professor Jane Sandall and Dr Abigail Easter, co-leads ARC South London maternity and perinatal mental health theme.
Presenters, panelists and conference organising team.Find out more
- →
View the presentation slides from the event - →
View the event programme 📄 PDF - →
Read about patient and public involvement and engagement in maternity and perinatal mental health at ARC South London - →
Research impact: Informing national policy on perinatal mental health and maternity care - →
Research impact: Improving healthcare and support for families with children’s social care involvement during pregnancy and the first two years of life
Original source: arc-sl.nihr.ac.uk — NIHR ARC South London legacy content archived May 2026.