Dr Susan Bradley
Contact details
About
Overview
Susan is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research. Her work addresses the challenges involved in ensuring equitable access to maternity care services for women in low-income contexts. Her research is underpinned by an interdisciplinary approach. Specific interests are the role of power, organisational culture, teamwork and models of care.
In May 2018, Susan completed a PhD in Health Services Research at City. This focused on midwives' perspectives on the barriers and enablers of providing respectful maternity care in Malawi, using the frames of postcolonialism and oppressed groups theory. Prior to this, she was awarded an MSc in Global Health (2007). Her dissertation explored the factors affecting the performance and retention of mid-level providers in emergency obstetric and newborn health care within the Malawian health system.
Susan has spent more than 10 years conducting research in low-income contexts and working in large, multi-disciplinary groups of research and advocacy organisations. From 2007-2014 she worked as a researcher at Trinity College Dublin and also spent some time as a researcher/writer with AMDD, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She has extensive experience of the logistics and practicalities of carrying out research in sub- Saharan Africa, from drafting initial project proposals through to hands-on experience of data collection, capacity building and qualitative data analysis with project partners in Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique.
Qualifications
- PhD, City, University of London, United Kingdom
- MSc Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
- PGCE Secondary Science, University of Reading, United Kingdom
- BSc (Hons) Biology, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Employment
- Research Fellow, City, University of London, United Kingdom, October 2018 - present
- Researcher, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, March 2011 - July 2014
- Researcher/writer, Columbia University, United States, July - October 2010
- Researcher, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, October 2007 - June 2010
Expertise
Geographic Areas
- Africa - Southern
Publications
Publications by category
Journal articles (14)
- Horn, A., Antonioli, E., Wiseman, O., Leister, N., Knight, M., Rodriguez, A.... McCourt, C. (2026). Why continuity of carer matters in group care: A qualitative analysis of women’s experiences of Pregnancy & Parenting Circles in England. Midwifery, 156, pp. 104735-104735. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2026.104735
- Horn, A., Bradley, S. and McCourt, C. (2025). Exploring Black feminist ethnographic methods: group care antenatal and postnatal body mapping sessions with Black and South Asian women in England. Anthropology & Medicine, 32(2-4), pp. 82-105. doi:10.1080/13648470.2025.2604247
- Horn, A., Orgill, M., Billings, D.L., Slemming, W., Van Damme, A., Crone, M.... McCourt, C. (2025). Belonging: a meta-theme analysis of women’s community-making in group antenatal and postnatal care. Frontiers in Public Health, 13. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1506956
- Berhe, S., Bradley, S., Fenny, A., Aziato, L., Ceesay, H. and Parmar, D. (2024). Access to adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in Accra, Ghana: An exploratory qualitative study. Global Public Health, 19(1). doi:10.1080/17441692.2024.2341420
- Bradley, S., McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. (2019). Midwives’ perspectives on (dis)respectful intrapartum care during facility-based delivery in sub-Saharan Africa: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis. Reproductive Health, 16(1). doi:10.1186/s12978-019-0773-y
- Uduma, O., Galligan, M., Mollel, H., Masanja, H., Bradley, S. and McAuliffe, E. (2017). The impact of a human resource management intervention on the capacity of supervisors to support and supervise their staff at health facility level. Human Resources for Health, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12960-017-0225-0
- Madede, T., Sidat, M., McAuliffe, E., Patricio, S.R., Uduma, O., Galligan, M.... Cambe, I. (2017). The impact of a supportive supervision intervention on health workers in Niassa, Mozambique: a cluster-controlled trial. Human Resources for Health, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12960-017-0213-4
- Shemdoe, A., Mbaruku, G., Dillip, A., Bradley, S., William, J., Wason, D.... Hildon, Z.J.-.L. (2016). Explaining retention of healthcare workers in Tanzania: moving on, coming to ‘look, see and go’, or stay? Human Resources for Health, 14(1). doi:10.1186/s12960-016-0098-7
- Chipeta, E., Bradley, S., Chimwaza-Manda, W. and McAuliffe, E. (2016). Working relationships between obstetric care staff and their managers: a critical incident analysis. BMC Health Services Research, 16(1). doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1694-x
- Bradley, S., McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. (2016). Disrespectful intrapartum care during facility-based delivery in sub-Saharan Africa: A qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis of women's perceptions and experiences. Social Science & Medicine, 169, pp. 157-170. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.09.039
- Bradley, S., Kamwendo, F., Chipeta, E., Chimwaza, W., de Pinho, H. and McAuliffe, E. (2015). Too few staff, too many patients: a qualitative study of the impact on obstetric care providers and on quality of care in Malawi. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12884-015-0492-5
- Chimwaza, W., Chipeta, E., Ngwira, A., Kamwendo, F., Taulo, F., Bradley, S.... McAuliffe, E. (2014). What makes staff consider leaving the health service in Malawi? Human Resources for Health, 12(1). doi:10.1186/1478-4491-12-17
- Bradley, S., Kamwendo, F., Masanja, H., de Pinho, H., Waxman, R., Boostrom, C.... McAuliffe, E. (2013). District health managers’ perceptions of supervision in Malawi and Tanzania. Human Resources for Health, 11(1). doi:10.1186/1478-4491-11-43
- Bradley, S. and McAuliffe, E. (2009). Mid-level providers in emergency obstetric and newborn health care: factors affecting their performance and retention within the Malawian health system. Human Resources for Health, 7(1). doi:10.1186/1478-4491-7-14
Professional activities
Events/conferences (13)
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The British Psychological Society, Psychology of Women & Equalities Section Annual Conference. (Conference) Windsor, UK (2018).
Paper: What about the midwife? Inequality, disrespect and abuse in the Malawian labour ward
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. -
Lugina Africa Midwives Research Network Second Conference. (Conference) Lilongwe, Malawi (2018).
Paper: Engaging with the psychological and physiological impacts of evidence-based practice as a mechanism to address respectful maternity care
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. -
Global Women’s Research Society (GLOW) Annual Conference. (Conference) University of Cambridge, UK (2018).
Paper: Moving beyond blaming the midwife: using an interdisciplinary perspective to explore the broader drivers of disrespectful maternity care in Malawian health facilities
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. -
18th Annual Researching Africa Day Workshop. “African Studies Beyond the Binary: Critical Encounters at the Intersection”. (Conference) University of Oxford, UK (2018).
Paper: Colliding or Blending? Exploring the ‘Betwixt and Between’ of Midwifery in Malawi Using Respectful Maternity Care as a Case Study
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. -
5th Annual Doctoral Research Conference. (Conference) School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, UK (2017).
Paper: “I hate labour ward...I don’t want this.” Stakeholder reflections on the challenges and utility of the dual qualification nurse-midwife and efforts to professionalise midwifery in Malawi
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. -
Postcolonialism in Interdisciplinary Perspective Conference. (Conference) University of Birmingham, UK (2017).
Paper: Betwixt and Between: Challenges in Realising Women’s Rights to Respectful Maternity Care in Malawi
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. -
IV International Conference on Humanization of Childbirth. (Conference) Brasilia, Brazil (2016).
Paper: Challenges and opportunities in providing humanized care: midwives’ views from Malawi
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. -
Human Rights in Childbirth Africa Summit. (Conference) Johannesburg, South Africa (2015).
Paper: Disrespectful maternity care - bad for women, but bad for midwives too
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McCourt, C., Rayment, J. and Parmar, D. -
Global Maternal Health Conference. (Conference) New Delhi, India (2010).
Paper: Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction and Retention: The Importance of Supervision
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: Masanja, H., Kamwendo, F., McAuliffe, E. and de Pinho, H. -
The Global Health Workforce: Pathways to Health, Irish Forum for Global Health Conference. (Conference) Dublin, Ireland (2010).
Paper: An in-depth exploration of health worker supervision in Malawi and Tanzania
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: Kamwendo, F., Masanja, H., de Pinho, H., Waxman, R., Boostrom, C. and McAuliffe, E. -
The Global Health Workforce: Pathways to Health, Irish Forum for Global Health Conference. (Conference) Dublin, Ireland (2010).
Paper: Research Capacity Building
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: Kamwendo, F., Masanja, H., de Pinho, H., Sidat, M. and McAuliffe, E. -
Innovating for the Health of All, Global Forum for Health Research. (Conference) Havana, Cuba (2009).
Paper: Advocacy, research, policy – HSSE makes it happen
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McAuliffe, E. and Shehu, D. -
First Global Health Workforce Alliance Forum. (Conference) Kampala, Uganda (2008).
Paper: Mid-level providers in emergency obstetric and newborn health care: factors affecting their performance and retention within the Malawian health system
Author: Bradley, S.
Co-authors: McAuliffe, E.