Juliet Rayment

Research Associate

Career summary

Currently carrying out a series of ethnographic case studies that explore how the organisation of maternity services in England affects the quality and safety of care for women.

Juliet received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Warwick in 2011 and was previously Research Associate in Service Improvement at Warwick Medical School in 2007.  Juliet has an MA in Social Research Methods and a BA in Philosophy and Literature.
She originally came to work on healthcare through an interest in the portrayal of illness and its treatment in literature, and through studying feminists' engagement with reproduction.  Experience ingludes, teaching courses in Gender Studies, Medical Sociology and research methods for various universities including the University of Warwick, The Open University, Thames Valley University and the University of Oxford.

Qualifications

PhD, Sociology, University of Warwick, 2011
MA Social Research Methods with Specialism in Sociology of Health, University of Warwick, 2006
BA Philosophy and Literature, University of Warwick, 2003

Current Research

The Birthplace in England Research Programme Case Studies
https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/birthplace/component-studies/cs

Areas of Interests

My primary research interest is in the experiences of midwives working in the NHS and how this is influenced by the historical development of the profession. I am particularly interested in how midwives talk about their work and what this can tell us about the profession of midwifery more widely, and also in the influence of space and place on healthcare work in hospitals.

My PhD thesis (Warwick, 2011) compared the experiences of midwives working in a consultant-led and an alongside midwife led unit, examining the strategies they used to manage difficult and stressful working conditions. The project used ethnographic methods to look particularly at how the midwives handled challenging emotions and intimate body work within two large and bureaucratic institutions.

Publications

Journal publications

Walley, P, Rayment, J, Cooke, MW (2009) 'The Redesign Practices and Capabilities of NHS Trusts in England: A Snapshot Study', International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 10,4/5

WASS collective (2007) 'Gender Transformations in Higher Education', Sociological Research Online 12 (1).