Dr Anna Nelson
annanelson95.bsky.social
Dr Anna Nelson
@annanelson95.bsky.social

Fringe Festivals and Health Law. 📚 Interests: childbirth, doulas, birthing/maternity care, obstetric violence, ectogestation, and gendered experiences of healthcare & consent. Research Associate: ConnecteDNA, University of Manchester. She / her. 🏳️‍🌈 .. more

Political science 47%
Sociology 12%
Pinned
Delighted that @bevclough.bsky.social & I have received a BA/Leverhulme Small Grant for our project ‘Birth Doulas as a Liminal Actor With/in Medical Law: Identifying Regulatory & Conceptual Tensions’. We’ve been plotting this project for over 2 years & are so excited to bring it to life!

Very excited to be heading down to London for the launch of the ‘Beyond Misinformation?’ project today! Also excited to have two uninterrupted hours to dig into this much anticipated book on the journey 📚

People often express concerns that birth doulas are entirely unregulated, but the reality is a little more nuanced - as @bevclough.bsky.social & I unpack here: birthdoulas.mmu.ac.uk/2025/09/22/b...
Birth Doulas and Regulation: A Socio-Legal Approach - Birth doulas
One of the claims which is often made by those expressing their concerns about birth doulas is that doulas are ‘unregulated’. The purpose of this post is not to provide […]
birthdoulas.mmu.ac.uk

Reposted by Anna Nelson

On the theme of countering invisibility, I'm glad to support Black Maternal Mental Health Week UK 2025, led by The Motherhood Group (@TheMotherhoodGroup on Instagram/LinkedIn/TikTok). It’s time to #MakeBlackMothersVisible. #BlackMaternalMentalHealthWeek #BMMHW25 More: themotherhoodgroup.org/bmmhw25/

The Canadian player who is smashing this #RWC25 semi-final in full festival glitter is my new idol ✨

Reposted by Anna Nelson

Now more people are back this seems like a good time to give another shout out about this NEW edited collection on consent in reproductive care, including chapters from @drsamhalliday.bsky.social @annanelson95.bsky.social @zainamahmoud.bsky.social @emmacave.bsky.social and more

Surveys are now live - link are in the thread!
Sharing our surveys for birth doulas and for healthcare professionals (both broadly defined) for a project with @annanelson95.bsky.social on birth doulas and medical law. Please share widely!

Doula survey, link: qualtricsxm2w4bhmwzy.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Healthcare professional survey, link: mmu.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Reposted by Anna Nelson

Sharing our surveys for birth doulas and for healthcare professionals (both broadly defined) for a project with @annanelson95.bsky.social on birth doulas and medical law. Please share widely!

Reposted by Anna Nelson

Following from our MLR workshop last year, @zainamahmoud.bsky.social and I are organising a workshop on embodiment & colonialism in November! We are grateful to the @slsauk.bsky.social for supporting this event and look forward to what we hope will be a great discussion.

Reposted by Anna Nelson

People had abortions today and it didn’t affect their local politicians’ lives in any way!

Reposted by Anna Nelson

"Obstetrics is one of the most expensive services provided by hospitals, especially in rural areas, which often see a larger portion of Medicaid patients. With financial hits looming, hospitals are primed to close maternity wards first, and rural areas are particularly vulnerable." @19thnews.org
Pregnant people in rural parts of the country are running out of places to give birth
Some doctors worry that massive cuts to Medicaid will leave pregnant people needing to drive hundreds of miles for prenatal care and delivery services.
19thnews.org

Totally agree with yours too

Big thought: any post-interview rejection should come from an actual person within the department (preferably head of school) not a HR system

Oh boy do I have *thoughts* on academic job hunting, institutional processes / practices, (lack of) care and candidate wellbeing.

Women's sport and social activism are closely intertwined in many way, which makes the silence about Palestine at the #WEURO2025 all the louder.

All Our Relations are doing brilliant work directly supporting and feeding families in Gaza: www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-...

HONESTLY supporting the Lionesses is starting to feel like supporting Scotland. My body can’t handle it.

Reposted by Anna Nelson

Women’s sports, especially these sorts of sports moments, don’t just entertain. They draw us into larger social movements.
‘Los Angeles Is for Everyone,’ ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us’: The Long History of Women Athletes Leading the Resistance
From protest shirts reading “Immigrant City FC,” to the rallying cry “Pay Us What You Owe Us” at the WNBA All-Star Game, women athletes today are continuing a long legacy of using sports as a platform...
msmagazine.com

An important framing here: “This isn’t just a story about a single miscarriage of justice, it’s also a story about how science can shape & reshape the law, and about all the ways that our ideas of women, of mothers, of motherhood shape the law too - often in ways that are invisible, but intractable”
I’ve spent the last three months investigating how genomics can prevent and overturn miscarriages of justice - particularly in the case of mothers accused of murder. The Lab Detective, new four part podcast series from @theobserveruk.bsky.social released today. Do listen lnk.to/thelabdetect...

Reposted by Anna Nelson

I’ve spent the last three months investigating how genomics can prevent and overturn miscarriages of justice - particularly in the case of mothers accused of murder. The Lab Detective, new four part podcast series from @theobserveruk.bsky.social released today. Do listen lnk.to/thelabdetect...

Reposted by Anna Nelson

Reposted by Anna Nelson

“The issue doesn’t get the attention it deserves.”
O'Neill's Jennifer Li talks to CRE Daily about the housing crisis threatening US cities ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
www.credaily.com/briefs/housi...
Housing Crisis Threatens US Cities Ahead of 2026 World Cup
The 2026 World Cup may worsen the housing crisis as cities brace for short-term rentals, displacement, and long-term rent hikes.
www.credaily.com

Reposted by Anna Nelson

Today, Five X More has published a comprehensive survey of 1,000+ Black and mixed heritage mothers, who were pregnant between 2021 and 2025.

Their findings are worrying and shine a light on why Black mothers remain 3x more likely to die in pregnancy & childbirth.

1/6 🧵

Reposted by Anna Nelson

New article! Embodied Experiences of Trans Pregnancy.

Published in the journal Body & Society, this article is part of a special issue on Pregnant Bodies and Embodied Pregnancy. We draw on interviews with trans men and non-binary people to explore the lived, bodily complexities of trans pregnancy.
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com

I'm excited for the day when 'the algorithm' can tell the difference between 'I've looked at this Uni course page repeatedly because I'm considering applying to study' AND 'I've painstakingly poured over this page to prepare for an interview/application for a job from which I've since been rejected'

Reposted by Anna Nelson

New article:

✨Relational dynamite: Engagements with kinship at the interface of donor conception & DNA testing

Petra Nordqvist, Leah Gilman, Caroline Redhead, Marie Fox, Nicky Hudson @fimaccallum.bsky.social @lucyfrith.bsky.social from #ConnecteDNA

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Relational dynamite: Engagements with kinship at the interface of donor conception and DNA testing
This article investigates how Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing (DTCGT) affects people impacted by donor conception by bringing empirical data on how…
www.sciencedirect.com

Oh that’s a good suggestion - thank you!

This advert has stayed with me and the piece has grown legs - none of which are legal or bioethical so I’m not sure where to try and publish it! I’d describe it as a (feminist) close reading of the advert and its visual / textual rhetoric. Any suggestions about where might take it? (2000-3000 words)
Has instagram ever served you an advert so egregious that you immediately lost three hours of your afternoon writing about it?

On a totally connected note, does anyone have a suggestion for where might publish a piece that interrogates the framing of labiaplasty in an ad send from neoliberal hell?!

Has instagram ever served you an advert so egregious that you immediately lost three hours of your afternoon writing about it?

On a totally connected note, does anyone have a suggestion for where might publish a piece that interrogates the framing of labiaplasty in an ad send from neoliberal hell?!

This sounds incredible @resmyth.bsky.social, I’m so sorry not to be able to make it!