ReProductive Conversations

With the cost-of-living crisis and the threat of climate change, we need local and global solutions. Across political and developmental discourse one solution keeps resurfacing – that women should have fewer children. As politicians and global developmental organisations isolate reproduction as a problem, policy solutions based on changing family sizes and formations become seen as the solution. In this episode we talk to Dr. Ruth Patrick from the Larger Families study to explore how larger families are framed as causing childhood poverty, resulting in welfare policies such as the benefit cap and the two child limit. We also speak with Dr. Rishita Nandagiri about how contraception is being promoted as a tool to address global warming. These seemingly unrelated crises of child poverty and global warming are linked by an underlying belief that encouraging women to make the “right” reproductive choices is crucial for the future of society and indeed the world. What are the wider implications for women’s health and wellbeing, and what are the tensions between these policies and women’s right to reproductive autonomy? Dr. Ruth Patrick: @ruthpatrick0Larger Families Study: Benefit changes and larger familiesUniversity of York: Dr Ruth Patrick - School for Business and Society, University of YorkDr. Rishita Nandagiri: @rishie_Abortion Book Club: abortion & other stories; (otherabortionstories.space)Dr. Rishita Nandagiri Website: Dr Rishita Nandagiri (rnandagiri.com)ReProductive Conversations is produced for BPAS by Digital Drama

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade, much of the discussion has understandably focussed on women’s ability to access abortion care. However, there are real concerns about the impact the ruling could have on women’s healthcare more broadly, including access to medications during pregnancy. In the UK the healthcare needs of pregnant women – and indeed all women of reproductive age – are increasingly being viewed as less important, or even in competition to, those of their babies. Join us as we explore this “fetus first” approach to medicine, and the implications for women’s autonomy across their lifetimes, with Dr. Caitlin Dean, Pregnancy Sickness Support, and Rachel Arkell, Centre for Reproductive Research and Communication.  To find out more about the discussions in this episode and our guests:  Dr. Caitlin Dean Blog:Spewing Mummy Pregnancy Sickness Support:The Team (pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk) Rachel Arkell PhD Profile:Rache Arkell - Graduate and Researcher College - University of Kent Rachel Arkell Article:Mandatory Recording Of Pregnant Women’s Drinking Is Just One More Attempt To Police Our Bodies | HuffPost UK Life (huffingtonpost.co.uk) Reproductive Conversations Podcast is produced by Digital Drama Productions for BPAS:Digital Drama