Work in this theme ranges from research into experiences of pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood to the experiences of men who pay for sex. Key themes include the relationship between the body, health and identity and understandings of reproductive and sexual health across the life course. All the research in this theme is underpinned by a commitment to challenging and improving practice in reproductive and sexual health care.
Most recently we have been exploring the theoretical and empirical connections between the beginning and end of life with a particular emphasis on reproductive loss. The Open University Birth and Death Research Group is hosted within the Faculty. Our collaborative work with colleagues in the Social History of Learning Disability Group on the reproductive rights and choices of people with learning disabilities can be followed by listening to The Secret History of Sterilisation on I-Tunes U.
We’re also proud to host the British Sociological Association’s Human Reproduction Study Group.
Current and recently completed research projects
Colleagues working in this field have carried out a range of projects in the following areas:
- Ante-natal screening (Carol Komaromy)
- Disability and facilitated sex (Sarah Earle)
- Health literacy and framing of health messages in the gay community (MacKian and colleagues, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council)
- IES Platform: scoping and feasibility - Preparation for an RCT on post-partum weight loss (Rose Barbour and colleagues, funded by the MRC)
- Perceptions of future fertility among young people with cancer and their professional carers (Rose Barbour and colleagues, funded by the ESRC)
- Positive outcomes and teenage pregnancy (Rachel Thomson and colleagues, funded by Brook)
- Post-natal depression: evaluating an intervention (Sarah Earle, funded by Northampton PCT)
- Reasons for sub-optimal uptake of folic acid during pregnancy (Rose Barbour and colleagues, funded by the Jennifer Brown Trust)
- Sex in Cyberspace (Sarah Earle and colleagues). The results of this innovative study can be found in Sex in Cyberspace: men who pay for sex published by Ashgate.
- Sexual health services provision (Sarah Earle, funded by the Vale of Aylesbury, Chiltern & South Buckinghamshire and Wycombe Primary Care Trusts)
Potential research projects
We’re actively looking for more postgraduate students to join us. For further information on potential research projects, supervisors and applying to study please see our Reproductive and sexual health page within the Open University Research Degrees Prospectus.