Putting Women’s Experiences at the Heart of Maternity Care: A Co-Produced Evaluation of Engagement and Participation Maternity Services (code C1.2_QueensBelfast)

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Inequalities Challenge: Maternity Disparities Consortium (MDC) is proud to announce its PhD Studentship competition. We are seeking the next generation of researchers to help us tackle persistent inequalities in maternity. 

The MDC brings together a UK wide collaboration of universities, NHS trusts, councils, charities, and industry partners. You can find information about our consortium members here. Our goal is to improve outcomes for women and babies before, during, and after pregnancy through inclusive, evidence-based research. 

Capacity Development

The MDC capacity development programme aims to build the next generation of maternity disparities research leaders, strengthen the workforce to deliver and sustain impact across the UK and deliver on the government priorities including the Women’s Health Strategy for England and 10 Year Health Plan for England.  

The Consortium focuses on growing long-term research capacity and expertise, especially within underrepresented disciplines, professions and underserved communities; inspiring and supporting the next generation of researchers with the right skills mix to work across clinical, practice and research sectors.  

The Opportunity

We are offering up to 13 funded PhD studentships across a range of potential projects at universities across our Consortium. We are specifically looking to grow research capacity in methodological areas, including but not limited to, health economics, statistics, trial design, digital research, data science, implementation science and co-production methods where expertise is currently limited. 

Start: January 2027 

Duration: Up to 3 years (Full-Time)

Funding:  

• Full home tuition fees covered (at 2026/27 UK rates). 
• Tax-free annual stipend at UKRI rates (£21,805/£23,805 outside London/ inside London from 1^st October 2026). 
• £5,000 (per award) contribution towards research, travel, training and consumables. 
• International students are welcome to apply but must secure alternative funding for the difference between UK and Overseas tuition fees.

The Project

Despite national and regional commitments to woman-centred maternity care, meaningful involvement of women and families in shaping maternity services remains inconsistent. In Northern Ireland (NI), Maternity Services Liaison Committees (MSLCs) exist across Trusts. However, uptake, visibility and operational effectiveness vary considerably. Consequently, women’s experiences often influence services only through complaints mechanisms or retrospective feedback platforms rather than continuous co-production. This may disproportionately exclude women from marginalised communities, reinforcing inequities in access, communication and experience.

This PhD aims to evaluate how women’s voices are currently incorporated into maternity service design and to co-develop an implementation framework enabling equitable, sustainable involvement of women and families in maternity decision-making, using NI as an exemplar region. The study will adopt mixed-methods design enabling capacity development in a number of methodological areas as outlined below:

1. Document Analysis: Systematic analysis of Department of Health (NI), Health and Social Care Trust, Higher Education Institution and community organisation policies relating to engagement and involvement in maternity care to examine stated commitments, accountability mechanisms and alignment with equity and anti-racist principles.

2. Policy implementation Study: A regional survey and qualitative interviews with Heads of Midwifery, service leads and engagement coordinators will explore how policies are operationalised in practice, including mechanisms through which feedback informs service redesign and examples of innovation.

3. Women’s Experiences and Preferences: Surveys and participatory qualitative methods with women and families, particularly those from underserved or minoritised groups, will examine satisfaction and also motivation to engage with current feedback mechanisms, perceived influence, and barriers and enablers to participation.

4. Co-Production Phase: Using participatory action research principles stakeholders will co-develop an engagement framework and logic model to embed women’s involvement across maternity services in NI. Implementation considerations, transferability and scalability across the Maternity Disparities Consortium of these outputs and the methodological approach used in this project, will be explored.

Expected impacts from this studentship include improved mechanisms for inclusive engagement, strengthened communication between services and communities, and actionable recommendations for equitable maternity governance. The student will develop skills in health services research, co-production methodologies, implementation science, policy analysis and intersectional maternal health research.

Contact Supervisor – Claire Kerr: [email protected]

Who is a MDC PhD studentship for? 

We welcome applications from individuals passionate about maternal health equity with particular methodology knowledge and experience. We are committed to building a supportive, inclusive, and caring research community. We particularly encourage applications from: 

• People from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds. 
• People with disabilities, neurodivergent conditions, and long-term health requirements 
• Candidates of all genders, ages, and beliefs. 
• We encourage applicants with experience of a wide range of methodologies to apply if they believe they can bring valuable skills to research on maternity inequalities. If it is not immediately obvious, please use your cover letter to explain how your disciplinary background will allow you to carry out your research. 

Eligibility Criteria

Essential

• First/Upper Second-Class Honours degree (2:1 or above) in a relevant subject.
• A Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field .
• Understanding of and commitment to tackling maternity inequalities. 
• Relevant previous research experience – this experience may be relevant to either the research or methodological area. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 
• Highly motivated. 
• Able to work both independently and as part of a team. 
• Able to plan and manage own work. 
• International applicants are welcome to apply for studentships, but applicants who are selected for interview must be able to provide proof of funding for international fees and immigration costs prior to their interview.   
• Evidence of an IELTS* score of 7.0, with not less than 6.5 in any component, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University, is required (*taken within the last 2 years).
• International students wishing to apply to Queen’s University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.

*All students will be expected to be based at their host university and meet the individual university PhD studentship regulations. Please check individual university postgraduate admissions.

Accessibility and Support

We want you to perform at your best. You may contact individual supervisors when asking for more details about the projects and your suitability for the project. General enquiries about the recruitment process and MDC, including if you require any reasonable adjustments for the application process or the interview (such as alternative formats, extra time, or specific technological needs), please contact:  [email protected].  

NIHR and DHSC have a duty as a public body to promote equality of opportunity.  We will contact all applicants throughout the application period with an Equality Monitoring Form. Monitoring ensures that all applications to NIHR MDC Programmes are treated equally in terms of gender, ethnicity and/or disability. Information will be anonymised and stored separately from your application, only be used for the purpose of monitoring equal opportunities and be kept securely and in confidence.