Dr. Kelly Saint Denny, PhD, MSc
Psychologist – Researcher – Lecturer
Dr. Kelly Saint Denny is a psychologist specializing in medical humanities, with a focus on neonatal and perinatal care and decision-making in medical contexts. Based at the University Hospital of Lille (CHU de Lille), she works in the neonatal medicine clinic and serves on the Ethics Commission of the French Society of Neonatology.
She earned her PhD in 2024 with a thesis entitled "Décisions et ajustement face à l'incertitude: Apports croisés entre psychologie et médecine périnatale" (Decision-making and adjustment in the face of uncertainty: Crossed contributions between psychology and perinatal medicine). Her research explores how parents and healthcare professionals navigate uncertainty in the care of newborns, particularly when facing complex or ethically sensitive decisions.
Areas of expertise
- Parental experiences in palliative care decision-making in neonatal intensive care
- Parenting perfectionism, intolerance of uncertainty, and emotion regulation in relation to postnatal depression
- The impact of the "first 1,000 days" concept on parenting and child health
Dr. Saint Denny has published on topics such as decision-making around withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, psychological predictors of postnatal depression, and the ethical dimensions of perinatal care. She regularly contributes to academic journals, presents at conferences, and collaborates with multidisciplinary teams to improve support for families in high-stakes medical situations.