Samantha Birts is a registered midwife and NIHR Maudsley BRC–funded PhD Candidate at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London. Her doctoral research explores the psychological impact of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on breastfeeding and infant feeding, with a particular focus on how physiological, psychological, and system-level factors shape women’s feeding experiences.

Her project, BLOOM (Breastfeeding, Lactation and infant feeding practices in women with gestational diabetes mellitus), brings together mixed-methods approaches to better understand the barriers and facilitators to breastfeeding in this high-risk population.

Alongside her research, Samantha draws on her clinical background as a midwife to inform her work on health communication, perinatal mental health, and metabolic risk. She is supervised by Professor Khalida Ismail and Dr Madeleine Benton.

She is passionate about generating evidence that can inform clinical practice, improve maternity care, and support women living with GDM during the early postnatal period and beyond.

Research interests

• Women's Health
• Parent and Infant Psychology
• Diabetes in Pregnancy
• Perinatal Mind-Body Interface