Dr Liane Hayes

Senior Lecturer

School of Society
Dr Liane Hayes

Liane is a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (Division of Academics Researchers and Teachers, Division of Clinical Psychology Faculty of Perinatal Psychology, Division of Health Psychology), a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and serves on the Committee of the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology.

Liane teaches social psychology and qualitative methods on Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes.

I first discovered Psychology in Year 9 whilst choosing my GCSE options and instantly knew this was the subject for me. I went on to study it at A-Level and then as an Undergraduate.

After my degree, I worked in PR in the charity sector for several years whilst undertaking my Postgraduate studies. I had developed a passionate interest in the psychology of women’s reproductive health. I studied memory and mood in pregnancy for my MPhil, then later, decision-making and mental health in pregnancy for my PhD.

I first came to the University of Chester in 2000 to work on a project training a contingent of forensic psychiatrists from Beijing, in collaboration with Ashworth High Secure Hospital. After a maternity break, I returned in 2002 as a Lecturer, then Senior Lecturer. I continue to be actively involved in the area of perinatal psychology.

The Psychology of Identity, Community and Diversity (PS5500), Social Psychology for Conversion (PS7315), Researching Thought and Behaviour (PS7301) and supervision of research at undergraduate and master’s level.

Liane’s primary research areas are in women's health, particularly cognitive and clinical psychological aspects of pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood.

Following an undergraduate degree in psychology, Liane gained both her MPhil and her PhD from the University of Liverpool. Liane’s MPhil studies investigated memory and mood in pregnancy whilst her PhD research focussed on birth plan decision making in pregnancy. Liane also gained a PGCE from the University of Wales.