Dr Caroline Lafarge

Professor Caroline Lafarge

Head of the Graduate School
Professor of Psychology
The Graduate School
caroline.lafarge@uwl.ac.uk

Caroline is the Head of the Graduate School at UWL.

Prior to joining the Graduate School, Caroline was the course leader for MSc Health Psychology. Caroline is currently the Deputy Chair of the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology, and part of the editorial board for the Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. 

She is also a qualified practitioner of sophrology (a wellbeing intervention) and runs one-one as well as group sessions. 

Prior to joining academia, Caroline worked as a research consultant in particular for the aviation industry. 

  • Qualifications

    • PhD Psychology (University of West London)
    • MSc Health Psychology (University of West London)
    • PgDip Psychology (University of West London)
    • MA Art and Design History (University of Central England)

    Additional qualifications include:

    • Certificate in Counselling and Counselling Skills (University of London)
    • Smoking cessation adviser (National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training)
    • Qualified Sophrology Practitioner (The Sophrology Academy)

  • Memberships

    British Psychology Society (BPS)
    Chartered member of the British Psychological Society (CPsychol)
    Full member of the Division of Health Psychology
    Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
    Deputy Chair of the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology

Research

Caroline’s research primarily focuses on reproductive health. Her area of expertise is on women’s coping with pregnancy loss and the way coping relates to women’s psychological adjustment. Caroline is also interested in psychological adjustment to trauma more generally, as well as social justice and interventions that promote wellbeing.

Caroline also collaborates with the Centre de Recherche Médecine, Sciences, Santé, Santé mentale, Société (Cermes3) and l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) on research about clinical practices and women’s experiences of prenatal diagnosis.

See Professor Caroline Lafarge's publications list in the UWL Repository.

  • Research and publications

    Journal articles

    Lynam, S., Lafarge, C., & Milani, R. M. (2024). Exploring the experiences of ethnic minority postgraduate researchers in the UK. Educational Review. (In Press) 

    Nagy, Z. B., & Lafarge, C. (2023). Factors predicting birth satisfaction in Hungary. New Vistas. ISSN 2056-967 

    Hill, Melissa, Ellard, Sian, Fisher, Jane, Fulop, Naomi, Knight, Marian, Kroese, Mark, Ledger, Jean, Leeson-Beevers, Kerry, McEwan, Alec, McMullan, Dominic, Mellis, Rhiannon, Morris, Stephen, Parker, Michael, Tapon, Dagmar, Baple, Emma, Blackburn, Laura, Choudry, Asya, Lafarge, Caroline, McInnes-Dean, Hannah, Peter, Michelle, Ramakrishnan, Rema, Roberts, Lauren, Searle, Beverly, Wynn, Sarah, Han Wu, Wing and Chitty, Lyn (2022) Optimising exome prenatal sequencing services (EXPRESS): a study protocol to evaluate rapid prenatal exome sequencing in the NHS genomic medicine service. NIHR Open Research, 2. p. 10. ISSN 2633-4402 

    Lafarge, C., Milani, R., Cahill, S., & Görzig, A. (2022). 2020 COVID-19-related lockdown: the relationships between coping strategies, psychological adjustment and resilience among a non-clinical sample of British adults. Adversity and Resilience Science, 3(4), 297-307. 

    Hendry, N., Lynam, D. S., & Lafarge, C. (2022). Singing for wellbeing: Formulating a model for community group singing interventions. Qualitative Health Research, 32(8-9), 1399-1414. 

    Taylor, C., Lafarge, C., Cahill, S., Milani, R., & Görzig, A. (2022). Living through lockdown: A qualitative exploration of individuals’ experiences in the UK. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(6), 2240-2249. 

    Loughlin, M., Dolezal, L., Hutchinson, P., Subramani, S., Milani, R., & Lafarge, C. (2022). Philosophy and the clinic: Stigma, respect and shame. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 28(5), 705-710. 

    Lafarge, C., Larrieu G., Ville, I. (2022): Why do French women refuse to have Down's syndrome screening by maternal serum testing? A mixed methods study. Midwifery, 110, 103351.

    Lamontagne-Godwin, F. R., Henderson, C., Lafarge, C., Stock, R., & Barley, E. A. (2020). The effectiveness and design of informed choice tools for people with severe mental illness: a systematic review. Journal of Mental Health, 1-16.

    Ville, I., & Lafarge, C. (2020). Frames of decision-making in prenatal consultations in England and France. Towards a sociological, relational, and processual approach to autonomy. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, ISSN 1356-1294 https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13368

    Marietta Papadatou-Pastou, M., Campbell-Thomspon, L., Barley, E., Haddad, M., Lafarge, C., McKeaown, E., Simeonov, L., Tzotzoli, P. (2019). Exploring the feasibility and acceptability of the contents, design and functionalities of an online intervention promoting mental health, wellbeing and study skills in Higher Education students. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 13,  51.

    Lafarge, C., Rosman, I., Ville S. (2019).  Pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: Ambivalence at the heart of women's experience. Women's Studies International Forum, 74, 42-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2019.02.007

    Lafarge, C. Usher, L.; Mitchell, K., & Fox, P. (2019). The role of rumination in adjusting to termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality: Rumination as a predictor and mediator of posttraumatic growth. Psychological Trauma: Research, Theory and Practice. doi: 10.1037/tra0000440

    Lafarge, C. (2018). Conducting research in a sensitive area: A researcher’s reflective account of the joys and pitfalls of doing research on termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality. New Vistas, 4(2), 35-37

    Lafarge, C. Mitchell, K. Breeze, A., & Fox, P. (2017). Pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: Are health professionals’ perceptions of women’s coping congruent with women’s accounts? BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 17, 60.

    Lafarge, C. Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2017). Posttraumatic growth following pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: the predictive role of coping strategies and perinatal grief. Anxiety Stress and Coping, 30(5), 536-550, https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2016.1278433

    Fisher, J., & Lafarge, C. (2015). Women's perceptions of care when undergoing termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology; 33(1), 69-87. doi: 10.1080/02646838.2014.970149

    Lafarge, C. Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2014). Termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality: A meta-ethnography of women's experiences. Reproductive Health Matters, 44, 191-201. doi: 10.1016/S0968-8080(14)44799-2.

    Lafarge, C., Talsania, K., Townshend, J., Fox, P. (2014) Living with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: A Qualitative Analysis.  British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 10(5), 226-235 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.12968/bjnn.2014.10.5.226

    Fisher, J., Lohr, P. A., Lafarge, C., Robson, S. C. (2014). Termination for fetal anomaly - are women in England given a choice of method? Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Jul 24:1-5. doi:10.3109/01443615.2014.940291

    Lafarge, C. Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2013) Women's coping with pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of women's experiences. Qualitative Health Research 23(7): 924 - 936. DOI:10.1177/1049732313484198.

    Lafarge, C. Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2013) Perinatal grief following a termination of pregnancy for foetal abnormality: the impact of coping strategies. Prenatal Diagnosis. DOI:10.1002/pd.4218.

    Lafarge, C. & Fox, P. (2013) Coping with bereavement following a termination of pregnancy due to fetal abnormality: women's and men's experiences. Health Psychology Update 22(1): 9-13.

    Usher, L., Fox, P., Lafarge, C., & Mitchell, K. (2013). Factors Associated With Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Literature Review. Psychology, Community & Health 2(3): 346–361. DOI:10.5964/pch.v2i3.65

    Lafarge, C. & Fox, P. (2012). The role of beliefs about infertility on psychological adjustment: A systematic review. VISTAS 2(1): 7-17.

    Report

    Loveday, H.P., Currie, K., Lafarge, C., Prieto, J.A., Freeman, O., Tingle, A. & Whitfield, A. (2013) The Patient Experience of the MRSA Screening Process and the impact of a MRSA-positive result: A Qualitative Study. Confidential Report to the Department of Health Policy Research Programme.

  • Conferences

    Lafarge, C. Pregnancy loss and Posttraumatic growth. Oral presentation, TEDxUniversity of West London - University of West London, March 2024. Available online.

    Lafarge C., Murphy, L., Fisher, J. (2023). Supporting women after pregnancy termination for medical reasons: a pilot randomised controlled trial of a Sophrology wellbeing intervention. Oral presentation, Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology Annual Conference – Lausanne, September 2023. 

    Lafarge, C. (2023). A journey through reproductive loss: is posttraumatic growth even a thing when losing babies? Oral presentation, International conference of auto-ethnography – Bristol, July 2023 

    Ville, I., & Lafarge, C. (2023) Transfert de responsabilité des soignants aux couples pour les décisions d’interruption médicale de grossesse. D’une prévention « totale » à une protection « totale ». Abstract accepted for an oral presentation at the ALTER (European Society for Disability Research) conference - Paris, June 2023. 

    Habib, A., Khan, H., Lafarge, C., (2022). DETERMINANTS ASSOCIATED WITH UTILISATION OF POSTPARTUM CARE AND POSTPARTUM MORBIDITIES IN MOROCCO, 5th Global Public Health conference. February 2022, online

    Lafarge C., Ville I. Why do women decline Down's syndrome screening in France? A mixed methods study, Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology Annual Conference - September 202, online

    Habib, A., Khan, H., Lafarge, C., (2022). The UTILISATION OF POSTPARTUM CARE AND POSTPARTUM MORBIDITIES IN MOROCCO: A systematic review, SRIP Sept 2022, online

    Reed, W., Ohl, M., Lafarge, C., Milani, R. (2021). Investigating the impact of fitness trackers on the outcomes of a weight management intervention to prevent Cardiovascular Disease, British Psychology Society - Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference, June 2021 - online

    Reed, W., Ohl, M., Lafarge, C., Milani, R. (2019). Investigating the impact of fitness trackers on the outcomes of a weight management intervention to prevent Cardiovascular Disease, University of West London, Ealing, May 2019

    Lafarge C., Usher. L., Mitchell, K., & Fox, P. (2019). The role of rumination in adjusting to pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality. Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology Conference, London, September 2019

    Reed, W., Ohl, M., Lafarge, C., Milani, R. (2019). Investigating the impact of fitness trackers on the outcomes of a weight management intervention to prevent Cardiovascular Disease, University of West London, Ealing, May 2019

    Lynam, S., Lafarge, C., Milani, R., Worrell, M. (2019). The experience of postgraduate research students from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds: An exploratory qualitative study. International Conference on the Mental Health & Wellbeing of Postgraduate Researchers, Brighton, May 2019.

    Lamontagne-Godwin, F., Henderson, C., Lafarge, C., Barley, E. (2019) The effectiveness and design of informed choice tools for people with severe mental illness: A systematic review. Behaviour Science and Public Health Network, Birmingham, February 2019

    Lafarge C. (2018). L’IMG et le deuil périnatal. Invited speaker at the seminar ‘Quand le handicap interroge la naissance’. Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Paris, March 2018

    Lafarge C. (2017). When prenatal diagnosis fails: Discovering a severe anomaly at birth. Speaker at Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology Conference. York, September 2017

    Lafarge C. (2017). Quand une anomalie est diagnostiquée à la naissance. Speaker at the Colloquium “Birth through the prism of disability “ Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Paris, June 2017

    Lafarge C. (2017). When prenatal diagnosis fails: Discovering a severe anomaly at birth. Speaker at The University of West London Research Conference. London, June 2017

    Lafarge C. (2016). Pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: coping, perinatal grief and posttraumatic growth. Invited speaker at The Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology, Leeds, September 2016.

    Lafarge C. (2016). Is there a perfect recipe for a successful PhD? Why self-development, relationships and grit matter. Keynote speaker at the University of West London MPhil/PhD Conference. Brentford, May 2016.

    Lafarge, C. (2016). Coping with pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: Do coping strategies predict perinatal grief and posttraumatic growth?Oral presentation at The Reproductive Health Summit. London, April 2016

    Lafarge, C. (2015). Coping with pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality. Guest speaker at The Pregnancy Summit. London, September 2015

    Lafarge C., Mitchell, K., Fox,P., & Breeze, A. (2015).Pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: health professionals’ perceptions of women’s coping processes. Oral presentation at the Oxford International Health Conference. Oxford, June 2015.

    Lafarge, C. (2015). Interruptions de grossesse pour anomalie foetale: Un aperçu de la situation en Angleterre. Guest speaker for the seminar”Quand le handicap interroge la naissance. Entre eugénisme et prévention”. Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Paris, May 2015.

    Lafarge C., Mitchell, K., Fox, P., & Breeze, A. (2015). Women’s coping with pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: A comparison between health professionals’ perceptions and women’s accounts. Poster presentation at the British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Conference. London, April 2015.

    Lafarge C., Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2014). Women’s experience of coping with pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: An overview of research conducted at UWL. Oral presentation at the University of West London Midwifery Conference. Reading, October 2014.

    Lafarge C., Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2014). Women’s experience of coping with pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: A comparison between health professionals’ perceptions and women’s accounts. Oral presentation at the University of West London MPhil/PhD Conference. Brentford, May 2014.

    Lafarge C., Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2013) Poster presentation: Perinatal grief following pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality: The impact of coping strategies, British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology Conference, Brighton, UK.

    Talsania, K., Lafarge C., Townshend, J. & Fox, P. (2013) Poster presentation: Living with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: A Qualitative Analysis, British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology Conference, Brighton, UK.

    Lafarge C., Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2012) Women’s experience of coping with pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality, Invited speaker at the Society of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, Oxford, UK.

    Lafarge, C., Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2012) Women’s experience of coping with pregnancy termination for foetal abnormality, Society of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, Prague, Czech Republic.

    Lafarge, C., Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2012) Women’s experiences of pregnancy termination due to foetal abnormality: a systematic review of qualitative studies, British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Health Psychology Conference, University of Liverpool, UK.

    Lafarge, C., Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2012) Women’s experiences of pregnancy termination due to foetal abnormality: a systematic review of qualitative studies,European Health Psychology Society Conference, Prague, Czech Republic.

    Lafarge C., Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2012) Poster presentation: Pregnancy termination for foetal abnormality: a qualitative analysis of women’s coping processes, European Health Psychology Society Conference, Prague, Czech Republic.

    Lafarge, C., Mitchell, K. & Fox, P. (2012) Pregnancy termination for foetal abnormality: the impact of coping on perinatal grief, VISTAS Colloquium, University of West London, London, UK.

    Lafarge C., Davis, R., Ohl, M. & Fox, P. (2012)Enhancing student employability: Reflections upon a collaborative pilot project with Ealing Stop Smoking Service, University of West London Learning and Teaching Conference, London, UK.

    Lafarge C. & Fox, P. (2011) Poster presentation: Women’s experience of coping with pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality, British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology Conference, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.

  • Research degree supervision

    Principal Supervisor

    Exploring the effectiveness of a weight management intervention when enhanced by wearable devices in Cardiovascular Disease prevention. (Weronika Reed)

    A Re-imagined Music Curriculum: Formulating a Framework for a more Inclusive, Diverse and Equitable Music Education for Black Pupils in the UK (Natasha Hendry)

    Exploring suicide postvention among adult males in the UK (working title) (John Whitebrook)

    The impact of racial trauma on Black British population (working title) (Cheryl Taylor)

    The development and validation of the Body Positivity In Pregnancy & Postpartum Scale (Hannah Griffin)

    Secondary Supervisor

    An exploratory sequential mixed methods study on the early recognition of maternal deterioration in midwifery-led care. (Luisa Acosta)