Melissa-Jane Johnson

I have always been interested in medical humanities, women’s histories and postcolonial studies. After completing my MA at The University of Leicester, post graduate research here was the next logical step. My research focuses on the migration of medical ideas and practices in relation to antenatal, intrapartum and post-natal care from the colonies of the British Empire to the metropole. My project will consider the experiences of settler women, and the medical women who observed them during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The projects aim is to facilitate greater acknowledgment of the influence of Eastern practices on Western Medicine. This will enable the recognition that systems of healthcare developed as a two-way reciprocal dialogue, allowing minority communities to see their culture in contemporary systems, therefore enabling greater engagement.