Reproductive and Sexual Health Communication Alliance

Beth is a health communication researcher at UCL. She is founder of the Reproductive and Sexual Health Communication Alliance. For any queries on the RHSCA, or to join the Directory, please email b.malory@ucl.ac.uk.

Jayne is an Associate Professor at UCL Medical School and a specialty doctor in Homerton Abortion Care Service. She is co-chair of Doctors for Choice UK and co-founder of the charity Abortion Talk. Jayne is passionate about improving abortion education for healthcare students and about destigmatising abortion. She produced and co-directed Kind to Women, a short documentary film about the1967 Abortion Act.

.Alexander Heazell is Professor of Obstetrics and Director of the Tommy’s Stillbirth Research Centre, University of Manchester, UK, the Regional Lead Obstetrician for the North-West of England and Consultant Obstetrician at Saint Mary’s Hospital. He graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2000 and began his clinical training in the West Midlands before completing his PhD in Manchester in 2008. His research portfolio includes basic science, clinical and qualitative research studies to gain better understanding in order to understand the causes and consequences of placental dysfunction, to prevent stillbirth and improve care for parents after stillbirth or perinatal death. Dr Heazell has received over £5M of grant income and has published over 300 research papers and received national and international awards for his work on stillbirth and placental dysfunction, and for improving care. He led the recent Stillbirth Priority Setting Partnership and was one of the team for the 2016 Lancet Ending Preventable Stillbirth Series. He is a past chair of the International Stillbirth Alliance. He has led national studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and an evaluation of PMRT reviews and MNSI investigations. Prof. Heazell is the national lead for Rainbow Clinic, a specialist clinical service for parents in pregnancy after loss. He passionately believes that a better understanding of placental disease will improve outcomes for mothers and babies.

Rachel Arkell is a socio-legal researcher with an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics, MA in Methods of Social Research, and LLB in European Legal Studies from the University of Kent. She completed her SeNSS (ESRC) funded doctoral research at the University of Kent, exploring the communication of risk with regards to medication use during (potential) pregnancy post Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015]. To date, her research has focused on the social and legal treatment of 'contentious' behaviour during pregnancy, including alcohol and medication use.  Rachel is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the '50 Years of Becoming a Mother' project at UCL, having previously worked for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service as a Research and Projects Officer.

Abortion Talk is a UK charity committed to fighting abortion stigma. They make space for the conversations that make people feel heard, valued, and help them find the support they want and need.

Abortion Talk runs the UK’s first and only free, confidential Talkine for anyone who needs a safe space to talk about their abortion experience. They also run workshops for abortion providers, community groups, and advocacy professionals, giving them time to explore the rewards of their work and the challenges of abortion-related stigma.

Marita is a Postdoctoral Researcher within the Pregnancy Loss Research Group at University College Cork. Her work encompasses all forms of pregnancy endings that do not result in a live birth, from a health services and critical public health perspective. Marita is particularly interested in the use of language ad framing, working with experts by experience, and integrated knowledge translation to enhance policy and practice.