Women’s Health

The UCLPartners Women’s Health Programme started by taking a population view of the more predictable health care needs of women across their life course (see Figure 1). These needs reflect aspects of ordinary life for most women – including control of fertility, sexual health, pregnancy and childbirth – which have a profound influence on population health across generations.  A life course view of women’s health offers a unified approach to health promotion, disease prevention and management.

Population view of women’s healthcare needs across the life course

The current configuration of health care for women reflects the interests of separate medical specialities, which may not meet the full spectrum of women’s health care needs. Working with interdisciplinary teams of service users, clinicians and scientists, the UCLPartners Women’s Health Programme has co-developed innovative approaches to transform maternity care and replace traditionally fragmented services for contraception, sexual health and gynaecology with more woman-centred, “one-stop” services that integrate high quality care cross primary, community and secondary settings.

With partners that include ‘mumsnet’, we are applying internet-based IT solutions to maternity care. Our aim is to facilitate a culture change that puts women more in charge of their care, creating unique longitudinal online care records as well as greater opportunities to translate world-class antenatal research into improved health outcomes for mother and child. This work supports the newly established North Central London maternity and newborn network in achieving delivery of high quality, evidence based, clinically effective and cost efficient maternity and newborn services across the sector. Click HERE to find out more about the M(ums) Power Project.

For more information, please contact Professor Judith Stephenson, Programme Director for Women’s Health at UCLPartners.