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Professor Christine McCourt

Professor of Maternal and Child Health

School of Health & Psychological Sciences Department of Midwifery and Radiography

Contact details

Address

Professor Christine McCourt M106 , Myddelton Street Building [M]
City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

About

Overview

Christine is Professor of Maternal and Child Health, School of Health Sciences, where she is research lead for the Centre for Research in Maternal and Child Health. She teaches at Undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral level as well as conducting and supporting a range of research projects. Her key interests are in maternity and women's health, with particular interests in institutions and service change and reform, on women's experiences of childbirth and maternity care and in the culture and organisation of maternity care. She has worked over a number of years on applying anthropological theory and methodology to studying 'western' healthcare and she is also the managing editor of the international journal on applied anthropology, Anthropology in Action.

Christine initially worked and studied at the London School of Economics where her degree and PhD were in anthropology. Her key interest at doctoral level was in applying anthropological theory and methodology to studying 'western' healthcare. After working at Brunel University and then as a senior researcher for Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, she moved to Thames Valley University where was Professor of Anthropology and Health and Head of the Centre for Research in Midwifery and Childbirth. She joined City University's School of Health Sciences in 2010. Her main area of work has been on maternity and women's health, with particular interests in institutions and service change and reform, on women's experiences of childbirth and maternity care and in the culture and organisation of maternity care.

Qualifications

  • PhD, London School of Economics, United Kingdom, 1986 – 1990
  • BA, 1st Class, London School of Economics, United Kingdom, 1980 – 1983

Administrative role

  • Centre Lead,, Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research, Sep 2018 – present

Employment

  • Professor of Maternal and Child Health, City, University London, 2010 – present

Memberships of professional organisations

  • Association of Social Anthropologists; Royal Anthropological Institute

Award

Expertise

Geographic Areas

  • Africa
  • Americas - Latin
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East

Teaching

Courses taught on

- Masters in Midwifery
- PgDip in Midwifery
- BSc in Midwifery, Health  and Society
- Masters in Public Health

Research

Research overview

- Ethnographic methodology
- Research on institutions and institutional change
- Maternal and infant health
- Health Professions and Professionalisation
- Access to health care
- Rural and remote access to care
- Ethnicity and health
- Place of Birth
- Users' experiences of healthcare
- Professionals' experiences of healthcare work

Research areas

Application of anthropological theory and methodology to studying 'western' healthcare ; Maternal and child health; Health policy; Institutions and service change and reform; Women's experiences of childbirth and maternity care; Culture and organisation of maternity care; Concepts of quality and safety, cultural safety and experiences of minority ethnic groups.

Completed research

Infant Feeding in Tower Hamlets Project (FIT study) Tower Hamlets Public Health.

An Organisational Study of Alongside-Midwife-Units, NIHR HS&DR Programme. Principal Investigator.

Birthplace in England Research Programme. DH Policy Research Programme and NIHR HS&DR Programme. Co-investigator.

Evaluation of the Scottish Government's KCND initiative. Chief Scientist Office for Scotland. Project advisor.

Pilot study of home blood pressure monitoring in pregnancy. National School of Primary Care Research. Co-investigator.

Field Testing and pilot studies of the KBN (Keeping Birth Normal) project. Barts and the London Charity and NIHR CLRN.

Initial and follow-up evaluations of One-to-One Midwifery: major research programme including economic study, clinical study, ethnographic study of professionals, study of women's responses to care, in-depth qualitative analysis of the experiences of minority ethnic women and observation study of midwife/client interaction. Project management and co-ordination, lead researcher on study of women's responses to care, study of communication and supervisor for doctoral study of professional responses. Funded by DoH/Johson & Johnson Foundation, EHH Health Authority, Smith and Nephew Fellowship & HAS Charitable Trust (for PhD student). 1994-1998.

Evaluation of the implementation of the Baby Friendly Initiative and support for breastfeeding mothers. Funded by DoH Infant Feeding Initiative.

Exploratory study of women's and professionals' awareness, experience and attitudes towards water-birth and towards participation in a possible clinical trial. No external funding.

Establishing priorities in primary and maternity care. Funded by NHSE London.; Evaluation of a 'virtual' decision making process for research and development commissioning. Funded by NHSE London.

Alternative Labour Pain Strategies (Feasibility Study and Pilot RCT). Funded by Oxfordshire Health Services Research Committee & Sir Halley Stewart Trust.

Evaluation of Midwifery Group Practice in a multi-ethnic area. Funded by WeLReN.

Evaluation of Midwifery Group Practice in a multi-ethnic area. Save the Baby Fund 2005-6.

Research centres

- Centre for Research in Maternal and Child Health

Principal collaborators

- Professor Jane Sandall, Kings College London
- Dr Jennifer Hollowell, National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit
- Professor Helen Cheyne, NMAHP research unit, University of Stirling
- Professor Peter Brocklehurst, University College London

Fellows

- Dr. Juliet Rayment
- Dr. Camilla Schneck, Leverhulme visiting fellow, University Sao Paolo, Brazil

Research students

1st supervisor

  • Laura Batinelli, Research Student
  • Jalana Lazar, Research Student
  • Lisa Apini-Welcland, Research Student

2nd supervisor

  • Jenny Mcleish, Research Student

Cassandra Yuill

Attendance: Oct 2016 – present, full-time

Thesis title: Places of birth: a study of information, choice and outcomes in a maternity context

Role: 1st Supervisor

Florence Darling

Attendance: Oct 2016 – present, full-time

Thesis title: To what extent do healthcare professionals in obstetric-led units use evidenced-informed skills as intended to reduce unnecessary interventions in the intrapartum care of low risk women and what influences their practice?

Role: 1st Supervisor

Giordana Pinheiro Da Motta

Attendance: Feb 2015 – present, full-time

Thesis title: Development of a strategy to provide postnatal care in a group-based model for implementation in socially disadvantaged communities

Role: 1st Supervisor

Susan Bradley

Attendance: Oct 2014 – present, full-time

Thesis title: Midwives’ perspectives on the practice, impact and challenges of delivering respectful obstetric care in Malawi

Role: 1st Supervisor

Sarah Bekaert

Thesis title: Teenage parenthood shortly after termination of pregnancy

Further information: Advisor

Agatha Bula

Thesis title: Supporting exclusive breastfeeding amongst HIV positive women in Malawi

Ghada Ibrahim

Thesis title: Maternity morbidity and access to maternity care in Sudan

Roa Altaweli

Thesis title: Exploration of factors influencing evidence-based practice in the second stage of labour in Saudi Arabia.

Jackie Baxter

Thesis title: Improving the quality of postnatal care in the UK

Gayle Clifford

Thesis title: Mothers with HIV in Jamaica and the issue of disclosure to their HIV negative children

Zahra Ghaffari

Thesis title: Socially disadvantaged women's access to choice of place of birth. External supervisor

Role: 1st Supervisor

Louise Hunter

Thesis title: Designing and testing an intervention to support adolescent mothers breastfeeding

Further information: External Supervisor

Claudia Oblasser

Thesis title: Vaginal cones or balls to improve pelvic floor muscle performance and urinary continence in women post partum: A pilot randomised controlled trial

Further information: Claudia Oblasser

Susan Bradley

Thesis title: Midwives' perspectives on the practice, impact and challenges of delivering respectful obstetric care in Malawi

Giordana Da Motta

Thesis title: Learning strategies to improve access to and experience of antenatal and postpartum care for implementation in socially disadvantaged communities

Lucia Rocca

Thesis title: The Barkantine Birth Centre: an ethnographic study

Publications

Featured publications

  1. Rowe, R.E., Townend, J., Brocklehurst, P., Knight, M., Macfarlane, A., McCourt, C. … Hollowell, J. (2013). Duration and urgency of transfer in births planned at home and in freestanding midwifery units in England: Secondary analysis of the birthplace national prospective cohort study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 13. doi:10.1186/1471-2393-13-224.
  2. Rance, S., McCourt, C., Rayment, J., Mackintosh, N., Carter, W., Watson, K. … Sandall, J. (2013). Women's safety alerts in maternity care: is speaking up enough? BMJ Quality and Safety. doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2012-001295.
  3. McCourt, C., Rayment, J., Rance, S. and Sandall, J. (2012). Organisational strategies and midwives' readiness to provide care for out of hospital births: An analysis from the Birthplace organisational case studies. Midwifery, 28(5), pp. 636–645.
  4. Schmied, V., Beake, S., Sheehan, A., McCourt, C. and Dykes, F. (2011). Women's Perceptions and Experiences of Breastfeeding Support: A Metasynthesis. Birth, 38(1), pp. 49–60. doi:10.1111/j.1523-536X.2010.00446.x.
  5. Brocklehurst, P., Puddicombe, D., Hollowell, J., Stewart, M., Linsell, L., Macfarlane, A.J. … McCourt, C. (2011). Perinatal and maternal outcomes by planned place of birth for healthy women with low risk pregnancies: the Birthplace in England national prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal, 343. doi:10.1136/bmj.d7400.

Publications by category

Book

  • McCourt, C. (Ed.), (2009). Childbirth, Midwifery and Concepts of Time. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Chapters (11)

  • McCourt, C. (2010). How Midwives Should Organise to Provide Intrapartum Care. In Walsh, D. and Downe, S. (Eds.), Essential Midwifery in Practice: Intrapartum Care (pp. 253–274).
  • Rowan, C., Beake, S. and McCourt, C. (2010). Evaluating problem based learning in midwifery. Advances in Medicine and Biology (pp. 157–176). ISBN 978-1-60876-288-0.
  • McCourt, C. and Hashimoto, N. (2009). From 'to learn' to 'to know': women's embodied knowledge of breastfeeding in Japan. In Dykes, F. and Hall-Moran, V. (Eds.), Infant and Young Child Feeding: Challenges to implementing a global strategy Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • McCourt, C. (2009). Social Support and Childbirth. In Squire, C. (Ed.), The Social Context of Birth Oxford: Radcliffe Medical Press.
  • McCourt, C. and Bastos, M.H. (2009). Morbidity during the postnatal period: Impact on women and society. In Byrom, S., Edwards, G. and Bick, D. (Eds.), Essential Midwifery Practice: Postnatal Care
  • McCourt, C. (2009). How long have i got? Time in labour: Themes from women's birth stories. Childbirth, Midwifery and Concepts of Time (pp. 184–201). ISBN 978-1-84545-586-6.
  • McCourt, C. (2009). Cosmologies, concepts and theories: Time and childbirth in cross-cultural perspective. Childbirth, Midwifery and Concepts of Time (pp. 37–57). ISBN 978-1-84545-586-6.
  • McCourt, C. and Dykes, F. (2009). From tradition to modernity: Time and childbirth in historical perspective. Childbirth, Midwifery and Concepts of Time (pp. 17–36). ISBN 978-1-84545-586-6.
  • McCourt, C. and Stevens, T. (2008). Relationship and Reciprocity in Caseload Midwifery. In Deery, R. and Hunter, B. (Eds.), Emotional work in midwifery and reproduction Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • McCourt, C. and Downe, S. (2008). From being to becoming: reconstructing childbirth knowledges. In Downe, S. (Ed.), Normal Birth: evidence and debate. Oxford: Elsevier.
  • McCourt, C., Stevens, T., Sandall, J. and Brodie, P. (2006). McCourt C, Stevens T, Sandall J & Brodie P. Working with women: developing continuity of care in practice. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 2006. p. 141-165. In Page, L. and McCandlish, R. (Eds.), The New Midwifery: Science and Sensitivity in Practice. (pp. 141–165). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.

Conference papers and proceedings (6)

Journal articles (144)

Reports (11)

Professional activities

Editorial activity (4)

  • Anthropology in Action, Managing Editor.
  • - International Journal of Childbirth
    - Journal of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care
    - Birth; British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology    , Editorial Board Member.
  • - DoH O&M Programme
    - DoH SDO Programme
    - National Institute of Health Research
    - An Bord Slainte Eireann
    - Canada Council for the Arts
    - RCOG Wellbeing
    - ESRC
    - European Union    , External reviewer.
  • - BMJ
    - Social Science and Medicine
    - Midwifery
    - Maternal and Child Nutrition
    - BMC Public Health
    - Quality and Safety in Health Care
    - Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology
    - Ethnicity and Health
    - BJOG    , Peer reviewer.

Other (2)

  • Scientific Committee, Normal Birth International Conference, ICM biennial conference.
  • Expert research panel, International Congress of Midwives (ICM).