Transforming Workplaces: Supporting Women’s Health at Work

In this webinar, Dr Ruth Abrams and Dr Lilith Whiley will showcase findings from an NIHR-funded review of evidence into workplace interventions designed to support women during pregnancy, postnatal return-to-work, and menopause.

Our panel of speakers will then discuss how organisations can address and support women’s health at work, followed by an audience Q&A.

Caroline Biddle, Director of Working Through Fertility, is an award-winning PhD researcher specialising in women’s health in the workplace at the Centre for Decent Work and Productivity, Manchester Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on the barriers and enablers that shape how line managers support employees undergoing fertility treatment.

Rachel Childs, Founder of Parents That Work, co-host of the Equal-ish podcast, is a relationship coach and parenting equity expert who helps couples manage the transition to parenthood while maintaining strong relationships and careers. Drawing on her background in psychology, coaching, and leadership development, she empowers couples to build equal and emotionally connected parenting partnerships.

Dr Kystal Wilkinson is an Associate Professor in Human Resource Management at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Centre for Decent Work and Productivity. Her research explores health, well-being, and inequalities at work, with projects on solo-living staff, fertility journeys, maternity management, and mental health at work. She is the lead editor of the 2024 book Work-Life Inclusion. She is the first ambassador for the Maternal Mental Health Alliance.

Dr Bongekile Mabaso is a registered Nutritionist, a Lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and an interdisciplinary scholar whose work bridges health sciences and management studies to advance gender, health, and work equity. Her research focuses on workplace breastfeeding support, work–family dynamics, and Ubuntu‑informed methodologies, alongside her role as co‑chair of the Gender and Health at Work network.