Dr Frankie Fair PhD, MSc, BMedSci, BSc, RM
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Fellow in Midwifery
Summary
I joined the Maternal and Infant Health Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Group at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ in 2014 to undertake midwifery research projects, with a particular focus on maternal inequalities.
I graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BSc in Psychology in 1998, before becoming registered as a midwife in 2009. In 2012, I was awarded with a MSc in Clinical Ï㽶ÊÓƵ from the University of Sheffield. And in 2024 completed my PhD evaluating gestational weight management interventions for women with obesity.
About
Over the last decade my research has focussed on inequalities in maternity care across a breadth of topics including ethnic inequalities, nutrition during the perinatal period, breastfeeding and perinatal mental health. I have a track record and expertise in a variety of research methods including systematic review and meta-analysis, feasibility, cohort and mixed methods studies, qualitative interviews, quantitative survey and data linkage (using routinely collected data within two separate NHS Trusts to assess the association between attending a healthy lifestyle service during pregnancy and the child’s long-term overweight status).
To date I have been co-investigator on 8 funded projects, including with external funders such as the European Commission, Race Health Observatory (RHO), Public Health England and Burdett Trust for Nursing. Community engagement is key to all of our research, working closely alongside maternity service users to identify key research priorities and ensure applicability of our research.
Teaching
School of Health and Social Care
College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences
I contribute to midwifery education, particularly the Midwifery Evidence and Enquiry for Practice module.
College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences
Nursing and Midwifery
Midwifery
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ and Evidence
Midwifery Ï㽶ÊÓƵ and Evidence
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ
The main focus of my research is around identifying and reducing maternal inequalities, focusing especially on ethnic inequalities, care of migrant families, nutrition during the perinatal period, breastfeeding among vulnerable women and perinatal mental health.
Involvement in ongoing and recently completed projects:
• Strengthening health equity for mothers and babies through community engagement [SHRIF]
• DigiCP - Addressing Health Inequalities through the Digitalization of Perinatal Mental Health Care Pathways for Service Providers and Users [SBRI]
• Routine Neonatal Testing (specially in ethnic minority families) [RHO]
• Evaluation Framework to enable analysis of correlation between the Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative accreditation and outcomes in maternity and community services [Public Health England (PHE)]
• The effects of a local dairy product supplementation on pregnancy, birth and infant outcomes in West Sumatra: A pilot randomised controlled trial [GCRF]
• Maternal Healthy Weight Services in England [PHE]
• Migrant Maternity Care: "ORAMMA: Operational Refugee And Migrant Maternal Approach", [Collaborative research in partnership with Greece, UK, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands & Belgium-Funded by European Commission 3rd Health Programme]
• An evaluation of the impact of a midwife-led maternal obesity service on pregnancy outcomes and childhood obesity [Green Legacy & The Burdett Trust for Nursing]
• The Impact of Maternal Weight on Maternal and Neonatal Health Outcomes: A Cohort Study (in Padang-Indonesia). {Directorate General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture in Indonesia, in collaboration with the Department of Nutrition, Andalas University and funded by British Council]
• Pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy [HEALTHCARE UK LTD]
• Midwifery Led Care (MLC) for low risk women: including providing online evidence based information for maternity service users and exploring women's experiences of accessing information when choosing where to have their baby, and health professionals' experiences of providing such information.
• Caesarean Section and wound infection - a pilot study to determine the feasibility of thermal imaging of a Caesarean Section wound to determine infection risk.
• Cochrane review of interventions to support the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding among women with overweight or obesity
The above projects have received funding from a range of sources including CLAHRC-SY, the British Council and the Burdett Trust for Nursing
Publications
Journal articles
Okai, E., Fair, F., Konadu, H.D., Darteh, E.K.M., & Soltani, H. (2024). . BMC pediatrics, 24 (1).
Fair, F., Furness, A., Higginbottom, G., Oddie, S., & Soltani, H. (2024). . PLOS ONE, 19 (10).
Fair, F., & Soltani, H. (2024). . Midwifery, 136.
Fair, F., Furness, A., Higginbottom, G., Oddie, S.J., & Soltani, H. (2024). . Pediatric Ï㽶ÊÓƵ.
Fair, F., Morison, A., & Soltani, H. (2024). . International breastfeeding journal, 19 (1).
Rangel Bousquet Carrilho, T., Wang, D., Hutcheon, J.A., Wang, M., Fawzi, W.W., Kac, G., ... Zhu, Z. (2024). . The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 119 (6), 1465-1474.
Furness, A., Fair, F., Higginbottom, G., Oddie, S., & Soltani, H. (2024). . BMC Pediatrics, 24.
Okai, E., Fair, F., & Soltani, H. (2024). . Health Science Reports, 7 (3).
Fair, F., & Soltani, H. (2024). . Women and Birth, 37 (1), 197-205.
Fair, F.J., & Soltani, H. (2024). . Maternal & Child Nutrition.
Dib, S., Fair, F., McCann, L.J., Nicholls, A., Kalea, A.Z., Soltani, H., & Fewtrell, M. (2023). . Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism.
Fair, F., & Soltani, H. (2023). . Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 43 (2).
Perumal, N., Wang, D., Darling, A.M., Liu, E., Wang, M., Ahmed, T., ... Fawzi, W.W. (2023). . BMJ.
Darling, A.M., Wang, D., Perumal, N., Liu, E., Wang, M., Ahmed, T., ... Fawzi, W.W. (2023). . PLOS Medicine, 20 (7).
Marvin-Dowle, K., Oshaghi, G., Fair, F., Ratcliffe, J., & Soltani, H. (2022). . British Journal of Midwifery, 30 (12), 668-676.
Fair, F.J., Watson, H., Marvin-Dowle, K., Spencer, R., & Soltani, H. (2022). . PLOS ONE, 17 (6).
Fair, F.J., Morrison, A., & Soltani, H. (2021). . Maternal & Child Nutrition.
Fair, F., Soltani, H., Raben, L., van Streun, Y., Sioti, E., Papadakaki, M., ... Vivilaki, V. (2021). . BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 21 (1).
Fair, F., & Soltani, H. (2021). . Obesity Reviews.
Fair, F., Marvin-Dowle, K., Arden, M., & Soltani, H. (2020). Healthy Weight Services in England before, during and after pregnancy: a mixed methods approach. .
Soltani, H., Watson, H., Fair, F., Burke, C., Oshaghi, G., Vivilaki, V., & Team, O.R.A.M.M.A. (2020). . European Journal of Midwifery, 4.
Fair, F., Raben, L., Watson, H., Vivilaki, V., van den Muijsenbergh, M., Soltani, H., & the ORAMMA team, (2020). . PLOS ONE, 15 (2), e0228378.
Fair, F., Ford, G., & Soltani, H. (2019). . Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Fair, F., Watson, H., Gardner, R., & Soltani, H. (2018). . Reproductive Health, 15 (58).
Soltani, H., Lipoeto, N., Fair, F., Kilner, K., & Yustawati, Y. (2017). . BMC Women's Health, 17 (102), 1-9.
Childs, C., Siraj, M.R., Fair, F., Selvan, A., Soltani, H., Wilmott, J., & Farrell, R. (2016). . Journal of wound care, 25 (9), 499-512.
Soltani, H., & Fair, F. (2016). . Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2016 (2), CD012099.
Soltani, H., Arden, M., Duxbury, A., & Fair, F. (2016). . Journal of Pregnancy, 2016, 1085916.
Soltani, H., Fair, F., & Hakimi, S. (2015). . Midwifery, 31 (2), 271-273.
Soltani, H., Fair, F., & Duxbury, A. (2014). . British Journal of Midwifery, 23 (1), 22-31.
Fair, F., Marvin-Dowle, K., Arden, M., & Soltani, H. (n.d.). Healthy Weight Services in England before, during and after pregnancy: a mixed methods approach. .
Conference papers
Soltani, H., Watson, H., Fair, F., van den Muijsenbergh, M., Papadakaki, M., Jokinen, M., ... Vivilaki, V. (2021). Perinatal mental health services for mothers from ethnic minority and migrant backgrounds. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 31, 176.
Fair, F., & Soltani, H. (2020). Evaluating the long-term impact of an antenatal healthy lifestyle service: retrospective cohort study. European Journal of Public Health, 30 (Supplement_5).
Fair, F., & Soltani, H. (2020). Experiences of maternal weight management services among women with a raised body mass index. European Journal of Public Health, 30 (Supplement_5).
Soltani, H., Fair, F., Watson, H., Raben, L., & Van den Muijsenbergh, M. (2018). . European Journal of Public Health, 28 (Supp 1).
Theses / Dissertations
Fair, F. (2024). . (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Soltani, H., & Spencer, R.
Other activities
Honorary contract at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to enhance research capacity in women’s health and early years.
Postgraduate supervision
Advisor on international PhD exploring neonatal transport practices in Sub-Sahara Africa.