Research

Aim: To explore creative journaling practice in perinatal health and wellbeing contexts by critically examining practitioner perspectives and experiences.

Approach: This project arose from ongoing research and practice by Dr Jessica Bradley with Maternal Journal groups in West Yorkshire, led by The Art House with expertise in creative health. Experiences - professional and personal - of Maternal Journal practitioners were found to be integral to the practice but underexplored. 

The research draws on creative methodologies, including journaling, and narrative interviews to find out more about the knowledges and experiences of Maternal Journal practitioners in the UK and globally.

Lead: Dr Jessica Bradley
Funded by: The British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, with Wellcome Trust.
Collaborators: Professor Jennifer Rowsell, University of Sheffield, Dr Laura Tommaso, University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy and Dr Catherine Bannister, University of Sheffield.

Aim: To examine how Maternal Journal practitioners work with linguistically and culturally diverse communities.

Approach: In 2022, a survey of West Yorkshire-based and international practitioners highlighted the diversity of journaling groups and the different approaches practitioners take in supporting mothers and birthing parents from diverse backgrounds. It also revealed core areas for practitioner professional development and a need for peer support networks.

Through the project, we bring together stakeholders working in perinatal health, community hubs and creative practice to explore experiences and understandings of interculturality as well as best practice. We focus on the importance of how practitioners draw on different resources and understandings in their work in intercultural contexts.

The research includes the development of an accessible, collaboratively developed practitioner guide to support and grow Maternal Journal in intercultural contexts.

The work contributes to practice at local, national and global levels.

Lead: Dr Jessica Bradley
Funded by: The Economic and Social Research Council Rapid Learning Fund (University of Sheffield)

Aim: To provide initial evidence for Maternal Journal as a support to mental health and wellbeing during pregnancy and early motherhood.

Approach: We worked with two groups of mothers taking part in five weeks of journaling workshops. We collected data on participants’ feelings of anxiety, depression, self-criticism and self-reassurance, and feelings of psychological growth. Some participants also took part in an interview afterwards to share their experience with the researchers.

Following the five sessions, we found initial evidence for a reduction in depression symptoms and an increase in psychological growth. Participants also reported experiencing deep feelings of connection, sharing, empathy, and honest self-expression.

Lead: Dr Sinead Rocha
Funded by: Goldsmiths University
Collaborators: Dr Liz Kirk, Anglia Ruskin University

Aim: To map the Maternal Journal movement and identify practitioners interested in taking part in future research.

Approach: Maternal Journal was set up as a global movement to support women and birthing parents in developing spaces for creativity and community. Due to the open-access model, groups were established at various points and grew organically over the years. The survey, based on previous research with arts organisations and health practitioners, provided an opportunity to capture new data that provided valuable insights into the scale and scope of the movement and journaling groups. It also helped build connections with global practitioners for future projects and research.

Lead: Dr Jessica Bradley
Funded by: The University of Sheffield
Collaborators: Dr Catherine Bannister, Dr Julia Bishop, Diane Saxon, Sally Golightly and Laura Godfrey-Isaacs

Celebrating Motherhood (zine) Atkinson, L., Bradley, J. and the Maternal Journal Wakefield Collective (2022).

Maternal Journal film, Bradley, J. and Godfrey-Isaacs, L. (SortOf films, University of Sheffield, 2024).

Walking with: understandings and negotiations of the mundane in research Applied Linguistics Review, 16 (1). 345 - 367, Bradley, J. & Pöyhönen, S. (2025),

Caught Up in the Moment: Seeking Magic in Literacy Research In Sailors, Bradley, J., Escott, H., Ambreen, S., Bailey, C., Pahl, K., Rowsell, J. & Thornton, G. (2025).

Theories, Models, and Practices of Literacy, pp. 446 - 468, M., Nuñez, I., Watson, V.W.M., Hoffman, J.V. & Alvermann, D. (Eds.), (Routledge, 2025)

Dr Jessica Bradley

Jessica is a senior lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Sheffield working at the intersection of language and creative practice. She has extensive experience in creative contexts, including arts and health.

Since 2022, Jessica has worked with Maternal Journal practitioners and participants to explore their experiences in journaling groups and how these experiences impact their everyday lives. The work includes ongoing research with The Arthouse in Wakefield, which has embedded Maternal Journal into its community programming and a survey with Maternal Journal groups around the world.

Jessica also leads the British Academy and Leverhulme Trust-funded project, Creative journaling at the intersections of art, motherhood and health: Practitioner identities and entanglements, which explores the experiences of people leading journaling groups and workshops.

She is co-editor-in-chief of the academic journal, Language and Intercultural Communication.

You can contact Jessica here -jessica.bradley@sheffield.ac.uk

Dr Sinead Rocha

Sinead is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist who works at the intersection of psychology and the arts.

As director of the Goldsmiths InfantLab, and group member of Music, Mind & Brain, Sinead leads research into music perception and production through infancy and childhood, and explores the role of music in soothing infants, regulating emotion, and supporting early social interaction.

As a new mum, Sinead took part in the Maternal Journal group at Cambridge Junction in 2019, and has been a member of the Advisory Group ever since. The resulting direction of her work reflects a rigorous investigation into the potential of the arts to enhance maternal wellbeing.

Sinead is currently working on a pilot study on the efficacy of Maternal Journal for clinical markers of maternal mental health, co-production workshops for the design of a Maternal Journal mobile app, and an evaluation toolkit for Maternal Journal facilitators.