Ruadh Kelly-Harrington presents work from the PLACES project at International Conference for Parental Policies and Supports

25 Jul 2023

Ruadh Kelly-Harrington attended and presented at the International Conference for Parental Policies and Supports at St John of York University, York on 20 and 21 July 2023.

Ruadh presented two reviews from the PLACES project entitled “Workplace supports for people who experience pregnancy loss before viability: A scoping review” and “Statutory leave for pregnancy loss before viability in high-income countries”. These presentations discussed the international literature and legislation regarding workplace supports for women and their partners who experience pregnancy loss.

Keynote speaker Professor Anna Tarrant presented findings and next steps from longitudinal participatory research on young fatherhood in the UK. The second day’s keynote was Professor Richard Petts who discussed fatherhood in the US, with a focus on the cultural norms and statutory/workplace policies which prevent men from becoming ‘engaged dads.’

A variety of policies and supports for all aspects of pregnancy and parenthood were presented and discussed over the two days. Recurrent themes included a lack of statutory and workplace supports for fathers; and the absence of breastfeeding in national and workplace policies.

Thank you to Dr Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi and York St John University for hosting this inspiring and educational conference. This was the second year of ICPPS and included a range of disciplines from psychology, sociology, and nursing, to law, policymaking and management.