Alice Kavati

I am a part-time PhD student at the University of Leicester and an Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (ANNP) at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. I trained as a nurse in New Zealand many years ago, initially looking after people with burns before becoming specialised in neonatal nursing – looking after babies born early or born at term but unwell.  I emigrated to the United Kingdom in 2004. I have since worked in many different roles in neonatology, including in nurse education, transport, and neonatal end-of-life care. I graduated with a Master of Medical Science from the University of Sheffield in 2020 and have since been working as an ANNP in the Leicester Neonatal Service. My interest in research stems from my desire to deliver the best care to babies and their families and to improve health outcomes in babies that have had a difficult start to life.

My PhD project looks at the relationship between early feeding methods and how babies born slightly before their due date grow and develop. I also plan to, using a questionnaire, find out more about their mothers’ feeding attitudes and experiences in the first few months after birth.