Vicky Mitchell
PhD student
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Biography
Vicky Mitchell is a registered nurse and full-time PhD student within the Mother and Infant Research Unit, School of Health Sciences. Her main research interests are within learning disabilities, vulnerable women in pregnancy, looked after and accommodate children, and healthcare and midwifery accessibility and inequalities.
Vicky graduated with her BSc in Nursing and Health Sciences in 2019 (with distinction) and worked clinically within different areas of secondary care. During this time, she also undertook an MSc in Nursing and Health Sciences, graduating in 2020 (with merit). Her MSc dissertation focused on exploring if nursing care meets the needs of adults with learning disabilities in acute care settings.
In 2021, Vicky was awarded a PhD Studentship through the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences. This included funding for an MSc in Social Research, which she completed in August of 2022. Vicky completed primary research for this which explored the infant feeding support for mothers of babies with Down syndrome. She is a member of the SGSSS hub, health, families, relationships and demographic change. Her PhD focuses on mothers with learning disabilities and their infant feeding choices, using a qualitative longitudinal narrative approach.
Research
Vicky is involved in other ongoing research on the topic of breastfeeding rights and services for mothers and babies who are involved in child protection and foster care. She has experience working clinically with adults who have learning disabilities, and children with complex physical and learning disabilities. She is passionate about the role of communication and has recently gained skills in ‘signalong’, a form of sign language for individuals with communication difficulties. Vicky understands and promotes the importance of bringing her clinical expertise into a research role to undertake research that actively involves under-represented groups in society.