Before joining BPAS, I developed an interest in audit and research, which grew during my time as a Telemedical Nurse/Midwife Practitioner (NMP) at BPAS and later as a Lead Nurse/Midwife (LNM). I have always been curious about how healthcare works, why things happen the way they do, and how to improve patient care and outcomes. I am Vice Chair of the ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ (RCN) Women’s Health Forum Committee, and as a group we work to identify and address gaps in women’s health and support nurses working in this area. Existing research is often the foundation of these projects, but this work led to wanting to contribute to new research.
In 2023, I approached the research team with an idea for a project on supporting patients to access local contraception provision, and I had an interest in applying for the Wellbeing of Women/FSRH Research Scholarship. However, at the time, the idea wasn’t fully developed, and I was unable to dedicate the time required. In 2024, Dr. Patricia Lohr, Director of Research and Innovation at BPAS, revisited the opportunity with me, and we discussed the potential for a project centred around the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP) and it’s use in abortion care. The LMUP is a set of six multiple choice questions to assess the degree to which a pregnancy was planned. Created 20 years ago, the LMUP has been primarily implemented as a pilot in antenatal and early pregnancy assessment settings. However, the LMUP has never been implemented or evaluated as part of a pre-abortion care pathway – a key gap our project is seeking to address. The topic of how planned a pregnancy is felt like a natural fit with the discussions we already have with our patients at BPAS. For example, contraception use in the lead up to a pregnancy, how appropriate the timing of a pregnancy is, and the intentions of a patient regarding their pregnancy (are they leaning towards having an abortion, continuing the pregnancy, or are they unsure?).
The application form for the scholarship was long and required a lot of detail; I also designed a Gannt chart to evidence the anticipated timings of the project. Patricia and I worked together on the application form which was a completely new process for me and very daunting. We set out objectives of the study, design and methodology, and the expected outputs and contributions. I learnt so much from completing the application form, which was extremely valuable, and had support from Dr. Jennifer Hall, Clinical Associate Professor of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Research Team at UCL, and Dr. Geraldine Barrett, a Principal Research Associate at UCL. Dr. Barrett is also the initial creator of the LMUP questions. This scholarship, designed for those new to, or developing in, research, was an ideal opportunity for me. Although I have conducted research in the form of literature reviews during my masters dissertation, I have never been involved in conducting primary research myself.
The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health (FSRH) Hatfield Vision is a detailed and evidence-based plan, which sets out actions to improve the health of women and girls and reduce the health inequality they face. As part of Action 8 of the Hatfield Vision, the LMUP should be introduced as the standard national measure of unplanned pregnancies. Collecting this data will contribute to a national dataset, provide insight into how planned a pregnancy was, even if a patient decides to continue with a pregnancy after contacting BPAS. We know that unplanned pregnancies can lead to poorer outcomes in areas such as maternal mental health. By incorporating the LMUP into our care pathways we aim to improve patient outcomes and our understanding of patient needs.
The LMUP has been translated into many other languages and used all over the world, and is applicable across diverse settings For more information, please see: .
