DrLorraine Grimes

Dr Lorraine Grimes is a Postdoctoral Researcher at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. Her research focuses on social policy, gender inequality, reproductive justice, housing inequality, and the experiences of marginalised groups, with a particular emphasis on single mothers and women's lived experiences.

Dr Grimes holds a PhD from the University of Galway and is the author of Single Mothers in Ireland and Britain: Pregnancy, Migration and Institutionalisation (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025). Drawing on oral testimony and extensive archival research, the book examines unplanned pregnancy, institutionalisation, maternity care, adoption, social class, unmarried fathers, and advocacy for single mothers across Ireland and Britain. The monograph has been shortlisted for an international book prize by the International Federation for Research in Women's History (IFRWH).

Dr Grimes has co-authored influential policy reports and evidence reviews on abortion and reproductive healthcare for Ireland's Department of Health, the World Health Organization, and advocacy organisations including the Abortion Rights Campaign and the Abortion Access Campaign. Her work bridges academic research, policy development, and public engagement, contributing to evidence-informed approaches to healthcare and social policy.

She has published over thirty reports, scholarly articles and book chapters, spanning social inequality, social policy, reproductive healthcare, housing and single motherhood in Ireland and Britain. Her methodological expertise includes trauma-informed, participatory, and co-production research to inform more inclusive and equitable policy development.