Dr Frances Mielewczyk

My career has been an eclectic one that began in nursing, including staff nurse roles on both adult and paediatric wards and nearly five years working on a neonatal unit. I went on to study psychology at City University, London, where I was awarded my BSc and MSc and a PhD in Health Psychology: my thesis was a mixed methods exploration of social cognitive influences on attempts to change health behaviour. While studying for my PhD, I also held a lecturing post at City University and was Course Director of the MSc Health Psychology programme for several years.  

Other roles I have held include: assisting in the evaluation of innovations in medical education at the Joint Centre for Education in Medicine, University of London; working as a Staff Tutor at the Open University; and coordinating psychologists’ responses to consultations on public policy on behalf of the British Psychological Society.

I started work in TIMMS at the University of Leicester in 2012 and held study administrator roles in connection with LAMBS (the Late And Moderate preterm Birth Study), EMSYCAR (the East Midlands and South Yorkshire Congenital Anomalies Register), and MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audit and Confidential Enquiries across the UK). 

In 2020, I was appointed as a researcher for the Leicester City Football Club Research Programme, which is a body of work aimed at finding out why some babies are born 2-6 weeks early (i.e. ‘late preterm’ and ‘early term’), why some of those babies do better than others, and how we can try to improve experiences and outcomes for parents, babies, children and families in Leicester and beyond. 

My latest research is a qualitative investigation, involving interviews with parents, obstetricians and midwives about their views and experiences of parents’ involvement in decisions about whether or not their baby needs to be born late preterm or early term.

I am also interested in the information needs of parents of babies born preterm and the influences on pregnancy outcomes in women aged 35 and over.

A full list of peer-reviewed publications can be found on my ORCID page.

I am not currently involved in supervision but have previously supervised MSc Quality and Safety in Healthcare students in their dissertations.

I am not currently involved in teaching but have previously acted as personal tutor for students enrolled on the MSc in Quality and Safety in Healthcare.

BSc Psychology, MSc Health Psychology, PhD Health Psychology

Previous qualifications: Chartered Psychologists (Health), Registered Sick Children's Nurse, State Registered Nurse