Our Women’s Health theme is working to identify and close inequalities in women’s healthcare through research and implementation of evidence-based change.

Adolescence to Menopause & Beyond

• Mapping the burden of sexual and reproductive health needs using our expertise, data assets, and integrated place-based infrastructure (including Women’s Health Hubs and Axess clinics).
• Implementing and scaling efficient models of care.
• Co-developing accessible information resources on sexual and reproductive health.
• Working across ARC themes to predict, prevent, and manage major non-communicable diseases that contribute to women’s ill health.
• Assessing the long-term health impacts of women-specific conditions (such as pre-eclampsia and cardiovascular disease) and identifying modifiable factors that can improve women’s health outcomes over the life course.

Pregnancy & Childbirth

• Integrating personalised risk assessment and decision-support tools into electronic maternity records.
• Building on existing NIHR-funded work in areas such as mode of birth, pre-eclampsia and epilepsy, while developing new innovations.
• Identifying and reducing low-value interventions.
• Expanding out-of-hospital maternity provision through tools and pathways developed by ARC members, including infant feeding support, maternal mental health services, PerSonal GDM for gestational diabetes, and virtual consultations.
• Applying the Quality Maternity and Neonatal Care Framework and evidence-informed guidelines to improve care.
• Refining and implementing co-developed NIHR-funded care bundles (Cherish) and antenatal preparation programmes (Options).
• Using high-performing site identification tools (NIHR Beacon Sites) to support scalable improvements.

Complex & Intersectional Vulnerabilities

• Exploring reproductive and sexual health challenges and inequalities experienced by girls and women in complex households to inform integrated support services.
• Scaling up trauma-informed interventions developed by ARC members, including programmes focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) recovery and mother–child bonding.
• Advancing and implementing innovations in social care for women, children and families affected by violence, building on co-produced work with partners including the police, Home Office, and Early Help/Family Support services.
• Implementing nationally developed initiatives addressing staff trauma and racial inequalities (including RCOG Good Practice Papers), embedding these within the ongoing pilot at Liverpool Women’s Hospital and supporting wider adoption across the region.

To ensure that our research is representative of the population, we work alongside Public Contributor Champions (PCCs), Practitioner Champions (PCs) and other members of industry including the voluntary sector (VCSE) to gain insights into disparities in healthcare and areas to prioritise.