Jennifer is a part-time PhD student at the Section of Women’s Mental Health at the IoPPN at King’s, where her research centres around the concept of maternal instinct. Taking a qualitative approach, Jennifer’s PhD explores how maternal instinct is conceptualised in academic literature and by pregnant women and new mothers, traces the influences on women’s belief in maternal instinct, and considers how believing that mothering is an instinctive practice impacts on the mental health of new mothers.

Alongside her PhD, Jennifer is continuing her longstanding career of conducting research in the U.K. voluntary sector. Initially working in the field of domestic and sexual abuse where she focussed on addressing the interlinked issues of trauma and abuse, mental health and substance use through improved policy and practice, Jennifer is now the Research and Impact Manager at the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales where she supports their early years and mental health programmes. Jennifer has also recently worked as a Research Assistant at King’s College London, most notably contributing to the analysis of interviews conducted for the ESMI-II study into the effectiveness of community perinatal mental health services.

Jennifer has a BA (Hons) in Modern Language and European Studies (German and Russian) from the University of Bath, an MSc in Gender and Social Policy from the London School of Economics, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology from the University of Derby.

Research Interests

• Women’s mental health
• Transition to parenthood
• Trauma and abuse
• Problematic substance use
• Practitioner training and development