Auckland Medical Aid Trust has sponsored, promoted and/or funded a number of publications, research projects and conference presentations. Most of this research is undertaken as part of a programme of doctoral scholarships and other research sponsorships.

AMAT works closely with Universities New Zealand Te Pōkai Tara in promoting and support research by doctoral scholars in NZ universities, funding a programme of doctoral scholarships.  Below is a selection of research outputs from past and current scholars and research fellows, either published on this website as complete papers, or as links to other research publication

Parker, G. (2019) Mothers at large: Governing fat pregnant embodiment. (Doctor of Philosophy), The University of Auckland, Auckland.
This thesis responds to a cultural moment in which the reproductive potential of fat women’s bodies has been problematised as a public health crisis. Informed by a feminist poststructuralist epistemology and methodology, and in particular Foucault’s method of problematisation, this thesis takes a critical stance on the contemporary logics and truth claims made in relation to maternal obesity, peeling back these knowledges to reveal them as social-cultural and politically influenced phenomena. Through in-depth, semi-structured caring conversations with 27 self-identified fat and ethnically diverse women who were trying to conceive, currently pregnant, or who had recently had a baby, this research reveals how the problem of pregnancy fatness has come to be, whose interests are served, the effects of this problematisation, and how this might be different.

Parker, G. (2019) Doctoral thesis reflection: On the complexities of doctoral research and reproduction.
What does it mean to research reproduction whilst moving through your own reproductive experiences? This reflective piece was adapted from the postscript of my doctoral thesis in which I explore the complexities of having undertaken critical feminist research in the field of reproduction whilst moving through my own reproductive experiences with the birth of my two daughters. The ways in which we shape, and are shaped by, reproductive research are explored.

Parker, G (2020). A big bias. Otago Polytechnic Research.
A short research review that highlights the need for, and key findings of my critical feminist research on maternal obesity and sizeism in fertility and maternity care

Parker, G. (2017). Shamed into health? Fat pregnant women's views on obesity management strategies in maternity care. Women's Studies Journal, 31(1).  (open access journal)
Fat pregnant women are being targeted with obesity management strategies in maternity care as a result of contemporary anxieties about the future health harms and health care costs of obesity in pregnancy. What it is like for fat pregnant women to be on the receiving end of discourses and practices in maternity care that problematise their bodies? And can weight-centric maternity care fulfil its ambition of improving maternal and child health?

Parker, G., & Pausé, C. (2018). “I'm Just a Woman Having a Baby”: Negotiating and Resisting the Problematization of Pregnancy Fatness. Frontiers in Sociology, 3, 5.  (open access journal)
This article explores how fat pregnant people construct successful narratives around their pregnancies and birthing despite or in challenge to the pathologisation, medicalisation and stigmatisation of pregnancy fatness as a contemporary health and social issue.

Parker, G., & Pausé, C. (2018). Pregnant with possibility: Negotiating fat maternal subjectivity in the “War on Obesity”. Fat Studies, 7(2), 124-134.  (Requires a subscription to the journal, or university library access).
The embodied temporality of pregnancy fatness in the mist of the “obesity epidemic” is explored through interviews with 27 ethnically diverse, cisgendered, self-identified fat pregnant people in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Parker, G., & Pausé, C. (2019). Productive but not constructive: The work of shame in the affective governance of fat Pregnancy. Feminism & Psychology, 29(2), 250-268. (Requires a subscription to the journal, or university library access).
The productivity of shame as an affective-discursive practice implicated in the neoliberal governance of “healthy pregnancy” is examined in the narratives of 27 ethnically diverse, cis-gendered, self-identified fat pregnant people in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Gibson, H. (2018) Surrogacy in the age of The Handmaid’s Tale. The Spinoff, 22 May. An article by one of our current scholarship recipients, as part of her PhD research on surrogacy in New Zealand.

Murphy, N. (2017) Traditional Māori understandings of menstruation. L.O.G.I.C.(16)2 11-14
An article written by Ngahuia and published in the journal of The New Zealand Journal of Primary Healthcare Nurses, that examines attitudes of shame and inferiority amongst Māori women as harmful to health and wellbeing, and argues that health care workers need to show sensitivity to complex feelings about the issue..

Le Grice, J., Braun. V. & Wetherell, M. (2017) “What I reckon is, is that like the love you give to your kids they’ll give to someone else and so on and so on”: Whanaungatanga and mātauranga Māori in practice. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 46(3).
(Requires a subscription to the journal, or university library access).

Le Grice, J. & Braun. V. (2017) Indigenous (Māori) Sexual Health Psychologies in New Zealand. Journal of Health Psychology, 0(0). DOI: 10.1177/13591053177399
(Requires a subscription to the journal, or university library access).

Murphy, N. (2017). Lady of the Woven Light, Lady of the Tide: Hinateiwaiwa and the Ritual Knowledges of the Whare Tangata.  A summary of Ngahuia's doctoral research that examines censored and marginalised ceremonial traditions related to Māori women through a mana wahine epistemological framework. Mana wahine is a Kaupapa Māori methodology that interrogates colonisation as dehumanising of Māori women.  This research is intended to produce emancipatory customary knowledge to uplift Māori whānau and iwi and provide wider society with rich ethnographic knowledge based on evolving Māori wisdom and traditions

Murphy, N. (2017). Bibliography. A comprehensive list of resources for Ngahuia's doctoral research as described above

Tonkin, L. (2017). Egg freezing for future fertility. An information sheet outlining a post-doctoral research project, that explores the issue of  egg freezing for future fertility for women in Aoteroa/New Zealand. The study explores women's conceptualisation of their stored eggs, prior to fertilisation. It will have wider implications for women’s wellbeing, policy and practice in the development of reproductive technologies, and whanau formation and functioning.  

Le Grice, J. (2017). Indigenous (Māori) perspectives on abortion in New Zealand. Feminism & Psychology 27(2). http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0959353517701491 The paper addresses the  dearth of exploratory research on Indigenous (Māori) perspectives on abortion. As part of an Indigenous feminist (Mana Wāhine) interview study,  the paper offers a rich and nuanced account of Māori perspectives on abortion, describing how these are structurally embedded within particular socio-historical and socio-cultural contexts, including Māori ideologies and theories, colonisation and Christianity, and women’s rights activism.

Le Grice, J., & Braun, V. (2016). Mātauranga Māori and reproduction: Inscribing connections between the natural environment, kin and the body. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples,
12(2) "http://content.alternative.ac.nz/index.php/alternative/article/view/456
The reproduction of Indigenous people, who have experienced ongoing cultural and ethnic marginalization, has long been a source of contention in colonizing contexts. The present article engages a pūrākau (narrative) methodology (Lee, 2009)  to construct a culturally relevant PhD literature review and synthesize a range of source materials to develop an account of traditional Māori knowledge (mātauranga Māori) pertaining to reproduction in a New Zealand context.

Le Grice, J. (2014). Maori and Reproduction, Sexuality Education, Maternity and Abortion. (Doctor of
Philosophy), The University of Auckland, Auckland http://hdl.handle.net/2292/23730
This PhD thesis investigates Māori and reproduction, casting a net around the wider phenomenon to understand reproductive decisions, parenting, sexuality education, maternities and abortion, as spheres of mutual influence. Drawing on a Mana Wāhine theoretical approach, the reproductive histories of 15 Māori men, 16 Māori women, and 12 key informant participants were elicited through qualitative individual
interviews and thematically analysed by a Māori critical realist ontology and Māori social constructionist epistemology.

Le Grice, J. (2014). Maori and abortion: An impossible choice? Women’s Health Update, 18(3)
http://www.womens-health.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Womens-Health-Update-Sept-2014.pdf
Abortion is a complex area where contemporary western and Māori values do not easily align. This brief article summarises customary Māori knowledge of reproduction, infertility and the loss of conception, the impact of  colonisation, and how contemporary Māori make sense of abortion.

Northcroft, L., Velvet Stone Media, Te Māngai Paho, King, K., King, A., Tipene, T., & Le Grice, J. (2015).
Te Iti Kahurangi: The Journey to Success [Se: 2, Ep: 11].
https://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/te-iti-kahurangi-journey-success/S02E011/te-iti-kahurangi-series-2-episode-11 A quirky profile series that celebrates our people. This episode features: Husband and wife duo Kebraska and Amber King, surfing champion Thandi Tipene and Jade Le Grice.

Le Grice, J. (2016) Māori and Reproduction, Sexuality Education, Maternity & Abortion. (pdf 191Kb).
A summary report of Jade's PhD thesis that forms the basis of her ongoing research. The research is supported by a post-doctoral Fellowship sponsored by Auckland Medical Aid Trust, intended to result in publication of research concerning reproductive health and well-being.

Nakarawa, J. (2015) The Best Interests of the Child and Relocation Disputes. (pdf 418Kb). A paper
submitted by a University of Waikato PhD candidate as a current recipient of the Auckland Medical Aid Trust Scholarship. The paper examines some of the factors involved in assessing the best interests of the child in the aftermath of parental separation, in a society that continues to uphold the ideal of the permanent,  nurturing and protective family. The focus of the paper fits within an interpretation of 'human reproduction'  as including the influence of politics and legislation on human reproduction issues, raising children, and the general field of social reproduction.

Njagi, J. W. (2012) Gender Power And Reproductive Rights: Discourses Of Abortion In Kenya - March 2012.
(pdf 160kb). Abstract of a University of Waikato PhD thesis submitted by the recipient of the Auckland Medical Aid Trust Scholarship. The thesis analyses discourses of abortion in Kenya, with the aim of unearthing why an issue that is clearly a serious health and social problem remains largely unaddressed. The research, which offers a feminist political analysis of the discourses of all the major actors in the abortion debate, makes a significant contribution to the feminist scholarship on abortion politics.

Njagi, J. W. (2012) Discourses of Abortion Reference List - March 2012. (pdf 352kb). A list of references related to the politics and discourses of abortion, with specific reference to abortion in Kenya (see listing
above).

Simmonds, N. (2011) Mana Wāhine Reference List - September 2011. (pdf 168kb). A list of references collected to date of scholarship pertaining to indigenous and Maori feminisms specifically related to  mana wahine and maternities. Naomi is a recipient of the Auckland Medical Aid Trust Scholarship, working on a PhD thesis at Te Whare Wananga o Waikato – The University of Waikato.

Richdale, J. (2010) Lifting the Veil of Silence. (pdf 91kb). Abstract of a University of Auckland PhD thesis submitted by the recipient of the inaugural Auckland Medical Aid Trust Scholarship. The thesis examines ordinary New Zealanders' narratives about their abortion experiences and public representations of abortion from 1919 to 1937.

Richdale, J. (2007) A Bibliography of Abortion Literature. (pdf 227kb). Compiled when the author was a PhD student at the University of Auckland and was the recipient of the inaugural Auckland Medical Aid Trust Scholarship. The bibliography includes journal articles that are not ordinarily accessible on the average library catalogue and should prove useful for those wanting to read more widely than published books.  The bibliography is also available as a regional list (pdf 239kb).

Auckland Medical Aid Trust (2007) Human Embryos - The Subject of Research. (pdf 55kb). A Submission from Auckland Medical Aid Trust on the use of Gametes and Human Embryos in Reproductive Research. The submission was made as part of consultation  undertaken by the Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ACART), for the purpose of providing the Minister of Health with an advisory report.

Richdale, J. (2006) The 'problem' of abortion in 1930s Aotearoa New Zealand: a study of social attitudes in selected print media 1936-1938. (pdf 134kb) The author is a current PhD student at the University of Auckland and was the recipient of the inaugural Auckland Medical Aid Trust Scholarship.  The paper explores what aspects of the practice of abortion were considered a problem at that time, how its problematic status was defined and what solutions were proposed.

Auckland Medical Aid Trust (2005) The Charities Bill. (pdf 16kb) A submission to Social Services Select Committee on the Charities Bill (later to become the Charities Act 2005).

Auckland Medical Aid Trust (2000) Submission to Law Commission (pdf 80kb) on Preliminary Paper 38 Adoption Options for Reform: A Discussion Paper

AMAT Research Institute (1999) Research Institute Newsletter. (pdf 39k) Publication outlining the early
development and focus of the AMAT research institute.

Brewerton, M. (1999) Global Trends in Adoption Services.  (pdf 32kb) Presentation of research project on international funding mechanisms for adoption services. Paper presented at the Auckland Medical Aid Trust conference: National and International Trends in Adoption. Logan Park Quality Hotel, Auckland, 13 November 1999.

Devine, N. (2002) The Question Concerning Educational Technology. Paper presented to University of Sydney/University of Waikato symposium. December, 2002.

Fitzsimons, P. (1998) Neoliberalism and Social Capital. Presentation of research in preparation for AARE symposium, Neo-liberalism, Welfare and Education: The New Zealand Experiment. New Orleans, April 2000.

Fitzsimons, P. (1998) Sex Abuse: An Issue in Human Sexuality. Revised extract from a research paper recently published in an international academic journal: 'Michel Foucault: Regimes of Punishment and the Question of Liberty', International Journal of the Sociology of Law (1999), 27, 379-399.

Fitzsimons, P. (1999) Questions concerning AMAT, Technology and Human Reproduction. Research report
for Auckland Medical Aid Trust.

Kelly, B. (1999) Public and Private Provision of Adoption Services (pdf 67k).Edited and expanded version
of paper presented to the Auckland Medical Aid Trust conference: Options for Reform in Adoption: National and International Trends in Adoption, 9 December 1999.Presentation based on extracts from her MSocSc thesis,The Role of the State and the Private Sector in the Provision of Placement and Long Term Support Adoption Services In New Zealand.

Weaver, A. (1999) The Pros and Cons of Early Intervention Strategies. Extracts from a paper presented at the Auckland Medical Aid Trust conference: National and International Trends in Adoption. Logan Park Quality Hotel, Auckland, 13 November 1999.