Staff profile

Helen Ball is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre. She obtained her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1992.

Helen studies infant sleep and the parent-infant sleep relationship from a biosocial perspective. Broadly defined, her research examines sleep ecology, of infants, young children and their parents. This encompasses attitudes and practices regarding infant sleep, behavioural and physiological monitoring of infants and their parents during sleep, infant sleep development, and the discordance between cultural sleep preferences and biological sleep needs.

Helen has conducted research in hospitals and the community, and contributes to national and international policy and practice guidelines on infant care. She pioneers the translation of academic research on infant sleep into evidence for use by parents and healthcare staff via Basis-- the Baby Sleep Information Source website (www.basisonline.org.uk). She serves as Associate Editor of the journal Sleep Health, and is on the Ediotial Board of the Journal of Human Lactation. She is Chair of the Lullaby Trust Scientific Committe, and an elected Board Member of the International Society for the Study and Prevention of Infant Deaths (ISPID).

In 2013 Helen received an award for Outstanding Impact in Society from the Economic and Social Research Council, and in 2018 Durham University was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for her research and outreach on parent-infant sleep.

Queen's Anniversary Prize

Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have presented the UK’s highest academic honour to Durham University for research that has helped to shape the way babies sleep and how parents care for them at night time.

At the awards ceremony at Buckingham Palace, similar to an investiture, the Royal couple awarded The Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education to the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart Corbridge, and Professor Helen Ball, Director of the Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre, with the University’s Chancellor, Sir Thomas Allen, in attendance.

The prize has been awarded to Durham University for ‘leading influential research on parent-infant sleep with a widely-used public information service’. The awards, part of the national honours system in the UK, are approved by The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister from recommendations made by the Royal Anniversary Trust’s Awards Council.

• Videosomnography of parent-infant sleep
• Relationship of sleeping and infant feeding methods
• Infant Sleep Safety, Sudden Deaths in Infancy (SUDI), SIDS
• Integration of evolutionary and socio-cultural perspectives on anthropology of infant sleep
• Coping with infant-related sleep distruption -- effects on parents
• Development of sleep patterns and circadian rhythms
• Parenting, infant care, infant feeding, infant mortality
• Midwifery and postnatal care
• Evolutionary medicine

• Anthropology of Health

• Bradford Infant Care Study (BradICS)
• C-section infant care study
• Child Sleep and Obesity
• Dummy use and infant sleep
• Got Milk? Project
• Infant sleep location on the post-natal ward
• Insomnia in the community: the Better Sleep Programme
• ISIS: Infant Sleep Information Source
• NECOT: North East Cot Trial
• Night-time infant care in North-East England
• Physiology of parent-infant sleep contact
• Sleeping arrangements for twin infants
• Teen Sleep Pilot Evaluation

• Helen Ball on LinkedIn
• Infant Sleep Info Source
• ResearchGate
• The Parent-Infant Sleep Lab (http://www.dur.ac.uk/sleep.lab)

• 2017: RI170013: Coping with Infant Sleep, ESRC £21959.00, 2017-06-15 - 2018-12-15
• 2016: Baby Bed Box Project - Let's Talk About Infant Sleep(£63500.00 from The Scottish Government)
• 2016: Teen Sleep Pilot Evaluation(£11357.00 from Education Endowment Foundation)
• 2016: Teen Sleep Pilot Evaluation(£78207.00 from Education Endowment Foundation)
• 2015: A New Approach for Improving Infant Sleep-Sharing Safety: a feasibility study(£36787.00 from The Lullaby Trust)
• 2015: IAA-DEVELOPING A NEW APPROACH FOR INFANT SLEEP-SHARING SAFETY(£21112.25 from ESRC)
• 2014: Exploring the experiences of families living in fuel poverty and its impact on children's educational outcomes(£304.00 from Chesshire Lehmann Fund)
• 2014: FP7-COFUND-DIFeREns2 - Anthropology(£116085.20 from European Commission)
• 2011: Infant Sleep Information Source (ISIS) Project(£96087.00 from ESRC)
• 2008: RF170040: Bradford Infant Care Study (BradICS), Foundation for Study of Infant Deaths, £78554, 2008-09-01 - 2010-08-31
• 2007: KTP - REDCAR & CLEVELAND PCT(£114416.00 from Redcar & Cleveland PCT)
• 2007: RF170028: NIHR Research for the Patient Benefit Programme: NECOT Trial, £263,104, 2007-11-01 - 2011-09-30
• 2003: IMPACT OF BEDDING-IN ON BREASTFEEDING RATES(£1240.00 from The Wellcome Trust)
• 2003: NEW DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY(£5825.62 from Foundation for Study of Infant Deaths)
• 2003: THE ROLE OF PARENTS(£4950.00 from Foundation for Study of Infant Deaths)
• 2002: BEDDING-IN ON THE POSTNATAL WARD(£144558.00 from Babes in Arms)
• 2001: R170208: Bedding-in on the postnatal ward (Pilot Study), Community Foundation, £2710.00, 2001-06-01 - 2001-09-30
• 2000: Co-bedding in twins(£70358.00 from Foundation for Study of Infant Deaths)
• 2000: R170194: Fellowship -- Dr HL Ball, The Leverhulme Trust, £4532.00, 2000-09-01 - 2001-03-31
• 1999: R170155: Risks to infants of sharing the parental bed, Scottish Cot Death Trust, £64607.00, 1999-10-01 - 2001-09-30
• 1999: R170193: Internship-MS CHI THAI, The Wellcome Trust, £1080.00, 1999-06-14 - 1999-08-13
• 1999: R170196: Internship-MS L GOODHALL, The Nuffield Foundation, £1400.00, 1999-10-01 - 2001-09-30
• 1998: R170191: Parent-Infant Sleep Strategies, Foundation for Study of Infant Deaths, £59004.00, 1998-05-01 - 2000-04-30
• -0001: RI170023 Basis Sustainability Project: To develop training materials and online content for Basis Webinars to broaden accessibility

• 2020: Associate Editor, Sleep Health, Journal of the US National Sleep Foundation:
• 2019: Elected Board Member of ISPID - International Society for the Study & Prevention of Infant Deaths:
• 2018: Queen's Anniversary Prize Winner:
• 2016: Appointed Chair, Lullaby Trust Scientific Committee:
• 2014: National Institute for Health & Care Excellence -- Panel Member: Topic specific member for Clinical Guidance Update: Postnatal Care -- Cosleeping and SIDS (CG37).
• 2013: ESRC Celebrating Impact Award - Outstanding Impact In Society: Award for Outstanding Impact in the Community from Economic and Social Research Council.
• 2011: Appointed to Editorial Board, Journal of Human Lactation:
• 2011: Durham University Award for Excellence in Doctoral Supervision:
• 2010: Appointed to ESRC Peer Review College:
• 2006: Healthy Children Award (US) for Research: Award for contribution to breastfeeding research from Healthy Children (US), presented Jan 15th 2006, Orlando, Florida

Available for media contact about:

• Subject specialists: Evolutionary paediatrics
• Medical and health research topics: Breastfeeding
• Human biology and development: Infant care practices
• Infant and child health:

Chapter in book

• Rudzik, Alanna E.F. Tomori, Cecília, McKenna, James J. & Ball, Helen L. (2021). Biocultural perspectives on infant sleep. In The Routledge Handbook of Anthropology and Reproduction. Han, Sallie & Tomori, Cecilia Routledge.
• Ball, Helen L. (2019). Breastfeeding and infant sleep--what medical practitioners need to know. In A Guide to Supporting Breastfeeding for the Medical Profession. Brown, Amy & Jones, Wendy Routledge.
• Tully, Kristin P. & Ball, Helen L. (2018). Understanding and enabling breastfeeding in the context of maternal-infant needs. In Breastfeeding: New Anthropological Approaches. Tomori, C., Palmquist, A.E.L. & Quinn, E.A. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 199-211.
• Sullivan, S.S. & Ball H.L. (2017). Early Childhood Pediatric Sleep Concerns for Parents: Co-sleeping. In Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. Stein, John Elsevier.
• Rudzik, Alanna E.F. & Ball, Helen L. (2016). Baby-Lag: Methods for assessing parental tiredness and fatigue. In Biological measures of human experience across the lifespan: making visible the invisible. Seivert, Lynette Leidy & Brown, Daniel E. Cham: Springer. 29-46.
• Russell, Charlotte K., Volpe, Lane E. & Ball, Helen L. (2016). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In Evolutionary thinking in medicine: from research to policy and practice. Alvergne, A., Jenkinson, C. & Faurie, C. Cham: Springer. 61-74.
• Taylor, Catherine E., Tully, Kristin P. & Ball, Helen L. (2015). Night-time on a postnatal ward: experiences of mothers, infants, and staff. In Ethnographic Research in Maternal and Child Health. Dykes, Fiona C. & Flacking, Renée Routledge. 117-140.
• Ball, H.L. & Russell, C.K. (2012). Night-time nurturing: an evolutionary perspective on breastfeeding and sleep. In Evolution, Early Experience and Human Development: From Research to Practice and Policy. Narváez, D., Panksepp, J., Schore, A. & Gleason, T. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 241-261.
• Jones, C. & Ball, H.L. (2012). Medical Anthropology and Children’s Sleep: The Mismatch between Western Lifestyles and Sleep Physiology. In Sleep: multi-professional perspectives. Green, A. & Westcombe, A.M. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 86-103.
• Ball, H.L. (2008). Evolutionary Paediatrics: a case study in applying Darwinian Medicine. In Medicine and Evolution: Current Applications, Future Prospects. Elton, S. & O'Higgins, P. New York: Taylor & Francis. 127-152.
• Ball, H.L. & Klingaman, K.P. (2007). Breastfeeding and mother-infant sleep proximity: implications for infant care. In Evolutionary Medicine and Health: New Perspectives. Trevathan, W., Smith, E.O. & McKenna, J.J. New York: Oxford University Press. 226-241.
• Ball, Helen L. (2006). Night-time infant care: cultural practice, evolution, and infant development. In Childrearing and infant care issues: a cross-cultural perspective. Pranee Liamputtong Melbourne, Australia: Nova. 47-61.
• Ball, Helen L. & Panter-Brick, C. (2001). Child survival and the modulation of parental investment. In Reproductive Ecology and Human Evolution. Ellison, P. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. 249-266.
• Ball, H.L., Hooker, E. & Kelly, P.J. (2000). Where will the baby sleep? Attitudes and practices of new and experienced parents regarding cosleeping with their newborn infants. In Annual Editions: Child Growth and Development. Junn E.N. & Boyatzis, C. Dushkin/McGraw Hill. 00/01.
• Ball, H.L. (2000). Babies and Infants Bed-Sharing. In Midwifery Practice in the Post-natal Period. Royal College of Midwives Royal College of Midwifes. 24-26.
• Ball, H.L. & Hill, C.M. (1998). Parental manipulation of post-natal survival and well-being -- are parental sex preferences adaptive? In Sex, Gender and Health. Pollard, T.M. & Hyatt, S.B. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 143-151.
• Swedlund, A.C. & Ball, H.L. (1998). Nature, Nurture, and the determinates of Childhood Mortality: A case study from Massachusetts, 1830-1920. In Building a New Biocultural Synthesis: Political-Economic and Critical Perspectives on Human Biology. Goodman, A. & Leatherman, T. Michigan, USA: University of Michigan Press. 191-228.

Conference Proceeding

• Heslop, E., Ball, H.L. & Leech, S.J. (2005). Bedding-in and Rooming-in on the post-natal ward: breastfeeding initiation. Measuring Behavior 2005, Wageningen, NL, Noldus Information Technology.
• Ball, H.L., Volpe, L.E., Heslop, E. & Leech, S.J. (2005). Observing mother-infant sleep behaviour. Measuring Behavior 2005, Wageningen, NL, Noldus.
• Ball, H.L. & Hooker, E. (1998). What happens to infants who sleep with their parents?. American Association of Physical Anthropology Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Ball, H.L. & Hooker, E. (1998). You wanna put a camera in our bedroom? Video observations of parent-infant cosleeping in the home environment. Measuring Behaviour 98, Groningen, NL.

Journal Article

• Rudzik, Alanna E. F., Robinson-Smith, Lyn, Tugwell, Francesca & Ball, Helen L. (2023). Relationships between postpartum depression, sleep, and infant feeding in the early postpartum: An exploratory analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry 14.
• Pal, Elizabeth, Blackwell, Jane E., Ball, Helen L. & Collings, Paul J. (2023). Sociodemographic, temporal and bedtime routine correlates of sleep timing and duration in South Asian and white children: A Born in Bradford study. Sleep Medicine: X 5: 100068.
• Zimmerman, Deena, Bartick, Melissa, Feldman-Winter, Lori, Ball, Helen L., Stehel, Elizabeth, Noble, Lawrence, Bartick, Melissa C., Bettinelli, Maria Enrica, Feldman-Winter, Lori, Kair, Laura, Larson, Ilse, LeFort, Yvonne, Marshall, Nicole, Mitchell, Katrina, Okogbule-Wonodi, Adora, Rothenberg, Susan, Seo, Tomoko, Szugye, Heidi, Weissman, Gina, Wight, Nancy, Young, Michal, Weissman, Gina & Zimmerman, Deena (2023). ABM Clinical Protocol #37: Physiological Infant Care—Managing Nighttime Breastfeeding in Young Infants. Breastfeeding Medicine 18(3): 159.
• Dixley, Allison & Ball, Helen L. (2023). The impact of swaddling upon breastfeeding: A critical review. American Journal of Human Biology
• Silva-Caballero, Andrea, Ball, Helen L., Kramer, Karen L. & Bentley, Gillian R. (2023). Sleep deprivation among adolescents in urban and indigenous-rural Mexican communities. Scientific Reports 13(1): 1058.
• Ball, Helen L. & Keegan, Alice-Amber (2022). Digital health tools to support parents with parent-infant sleep and mental well-being. npj Digital Medicine 5(1): 185.
• Dixley, Allison & Ball, Helen L. (2022). The effect of swaddling on infant sleep and arousal: A systematic review and narrative synthesis. Frontiers in Pediatrics 10: 1000180.
• Medvecová Tinková, Lenka & Ball, Helen L. (2022). Lost in translation - the influence of language on infant sleep research. Sleep Health 8(1): 96-100.
• Eatt, Jodi, Watson, Stuart, Ball, Helen, Sevar, Katherine & Galbally, Megan (2022). Maternal Depression and Early Parenting: A Comparison between Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and Australian born Mothers. Australasian Psychiatry 30(1): 119-125.
• Teti, Douglas M., Ball, Helen L. & Tikotzky, Liat (2022). “Sleep and the family system”—A preface. Sleep Health 8(1): 28.
• Bartick, Melissa, Young, Michal, Louis-Jaques, Adetola, McKenna, James J. & Ball Helen L. (2022). Bedsharing may partially explain the reduced risk of sleep-related death in breastfed infants. Frontiers in Pediatrics
• Blair, Peter S, Ball, Helen Louise, Pease, Anna & Fleming, Peter J (2022). Bed-sharing and SIDS: an evidence-based approach. Archives of Disease in Childhood archdischild-2021-323469.
• Phillips, Sophie M., Summerbell, Carolyn, Ball, Helen L., Hesketh, Kathryn R., Saxena, Sonia & Hillier-Brown, Frances C. (2021). The Validity, Reliability, and Feasibility of Measurement Tools Used to Assess Sleep of Pre-school Aged Children: A Systematic Rapid Review. Frontiers in Pediatrics 9.
• Ball, Helen L., Taylor, Catherine E. & Yuill, Cassandra M. (2021). A box to put the baby in: UK parent perceptions of two box programmes promoted for infant sleep. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(21): 11473
• Collings, Paul James, Blackwell, Jane Elizabeth, Pal, Elizabeth, Ball, Helen L & Wright, John (2021). Associations of diarised sleep onset time, period and duration with total and central adiposity in a biethnic sample of young children: the Born in Bradford observational cohort study. BMJ Open 11(5): e044769.
• Rudzik, Alanna E. F. & Ball, Helen L. (2021). Biologically normal sleep in the mother‐infant dyad. American Journal of Human Biology
• Ball, Helen L. & Keegan, Alice-Amber (2021). The impact of breastfeeding on mother-baby sleep -- addressing popular myths. Lactation & Breastfeeding: magazine of the European Lactation Consultants Alliance 33(3): 4-8.
• Phillips, Sophie M Summerbell, Carolyn Ball, Helen L Hesketh, Kathryn R Saxena, Sonia & Frances C Hillier-Brown (2021). The validity, reliability, and feasibility of measurement tools used to assess sleep of pre-school aged children: a systematic rapid review. Frontiers in Pediatrics
• Ball, Helen L., Taylor, Catherine E., Thomas, Victoria & Douglas Pamela, S. (2020). Development and evaluation of 'Sleep, Baby & You' -- a discussion tool to support parental well-being and responsive care-giving. PLoS ONE 15(8): e0237240.
• Ball, Helen L. & Taylor, Catherine E. (2020). Baby-box schemes in England: parent and practitioner experiences, and recommendations. BMC Pediatrics 20(1): 154.
• Barbir, Ivana, Ball, Helen & Zakarija‐Grković, Irena (2020). Parental knowledge of safe infant sleep and sudden infant death syndrome is inadequate in Croatia. Acta Paediatrica 109(9): 1887-1888.
• Blair, Peter S., Ball, Helen L., McKenna, James J., Feldman-Winter, Lori, Marinelli, Kathleen A., Bartick, Melissa C. & and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Protocol Committee (2020). Bedsharing and Breastfeeding: The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Protocol #6, Revision 2019. Breastfeeding Medicine 15(1): 5-16.
• Ball, H, Tomori, C & McKenna, J (2019). Toward an integrated anthropology of infant sleep. American Anthropologist 121(3): 595-612.
• Marinelli, Kathleen A., Ball, Helen L., McKenna, James J. & Blair, Peter S. (2019). An Integrated Analysis of Maternal-Infant Sleep, Breastfeeding, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research Supporting a Balanced Discourse. Journal of Human Lactation 35(3): 510.
• Ball, Helen L. (2019). About Research: Conducting Online Surveys. Journal of Human Lactation 35(3): 413-417.
• Ball, Helen L., Douglas, Pamela S., Kulasinghe, Kavindri, Whittingham, Koa & Hill, Peter (2018). The Possums Infant Sleep Program: parents' perspectives on a novel parent-infant sleep intervention in Australia. Sleep Health 4(6): 519-526.
• Rudzik, Alanna E.F., Robinson-Smith, Lyn & Ball, Helen L. (2018). Discrepancies in maternal reports of infant sleep vs. actigraphy by mode of feeding. Sleep Medicine 49: 90-98.
• Watson, Stuart, Ball, Helen Lewis, Andrew & Galbally, Megan (2018). Breastfeeding, Antidepressants and Depression in the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Well-being Study. Journal of Human Lactation 35(1): 127-136.
• Bartick, Melissa, Tomori, Cecília & Ball, Helen L. (2018). Babies in boxes and the missing links on safe sleep: Human evolution and cultural revolution. Maternal & Child Nutrition 14(2): e12544.
• Ball, H. (2017). The Atlantic Divide: contrasting U.K. & U.S. recommendations on cosleeping and bed-sharing. Journal of Human Lactation 33(4): 765-769.
• Ball, Helen L. (2017). Evolution-informed maternal-infant health. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1(3): 0073.
• Robinson-Smith, Lyn & Ball, Helen L. (2017). Sleep and cognitive function in young children. The International Journal of Birth and Parent Education 5(1): 27-30.
• Collings, P., Ball, H., Santorelli, G., West, J., Barber, S., McEachan, R. & Wright, J. (2017). Sleep duration and adiposity in early childhood: evidence for bidirectional associations from the Born in Bradford study. SLEEP 40(2): zsw054.
• Cronin-de-Chavez, Anna, Ball, Helen L. & Ward-Platt, Martin P. (2016). Bi-ethnic infant thermal care beliefs in Bradford, UK. International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare 9(2): 120-134.
• Ball, H., Howell, D., Bryant, A., Best, E., Russell, C. & Ward-Platt, M. (2016). Bed-sharing by breastfeeding mothers: who bed-shares, and what is the relationship with breastfeeding duration? Acta Paediatrica 105(6): 628-634.
• Crane, D. & Ball, H.L. (2016). A qualitative study in parental perceptions and understanding of SIDS-reduction guidance in a UK bi-cultural urban community. BMC Pediatrics 16: 23.
• Rudzik, Alanna E. & Ball, Helen L. (2016). Exploring maternal perceptions of infant sleep and feeding method among mothers in the United Kingdom: A qualitative focus group study. Maternal and Child Health Journal 20(1): 33-40.
• Volpe, Lane E. & Ball, Helen L. (2015). Infant sleep-related deaths: why do parents take risks? Archives of Disease in Childhood 100(7): 603-604
• Ball, Helen L. (2015). Empowering families to make informed choices about sleep safety. British Journal of Midwifery 23(3): 164-165.
• Fairley, Lesley, Santorelli, Gillian, Lawlor, Debbie A., Bryant, Maria, Bhopal, Raj, Petherick, Emily S., Sahota, Pinki, Greenwood, Darren C., Hill, Andrew J., Cameron, Noel, Ball, Helen L., Barber, Sally & Wright, John (2015). The relationship between early life modifiable risk factors for childhood obesity, ethnicity and body mass index at age 3 years: findings from the Born in Bradford birth cohort study. BMC Obesity 2(1): 9.
• Russell, Charlotte K., Whitmore, Mary, Burrows, Dawn & Ball, Helen L. (2015). Where might my baby sleep? Design and evaluation of a novel discussion tool for parent education. International Journal of Birth and Parenting Education 2(2): 11-15.
• Russell, Charlotte K. & Ball, Helen L. (2015). Bed-sharing, co-sleeping and parent education--a time for change. International Journal of Birth and Parenting Education 2(2): 19-20.
• Ball, Helen L. (2015). The BMJ illustrates hazardous co-sleeping. BMJ 350: h993.
• Jones, Caroline H.D. & Ball, Helen L. (2014). Exploring socioeconomic differences in bedtime behaviours and sleep duration in English preschool children. Infant and Child Development 23(5): 518-531.
• Jones, Caroline HD, Pollard, Tessa M, Summerbell, CD & Ball, Helen L (2014). Could parental rules play a role in the association between short sleep and obesity in young children? Journal of Biosocial Science 46(3): 405-418.
• Ball, H.L. & Russell, C.K. (2014). SIDS & Infant Sleep Ecology. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health 2014(1): 146.
• Ball, Helen L. (2014). Reframing what we tell parents about normal infant sleep and how we support them. Breastfeeding Review 22(3): 11-12.
• Tully, Kristin P. & Ball, Helen L. (2014). Maternal accounts of their breast-feeding intent and early challenges after caesarean childbirth. Midwifery 30(6): 712-719.
• Ball, H.L. (2013). Supporting parents who are worried about their newborn’s sleep. British medical journal 346: f2344.
• Tully, K.P. & Ball, H.L. (2013). Trade-offs underlying maternal breastfeeding decisions: a conceptual model. Maternal & Child Nutrition 9(1): 90-98.
• Howel, Denise & Ball, Helen L. (2013). Association between Length of Exclusive Breastfeeding and Subsequent Breastfeeding Continuation. Journal of Human Lactation 29(4): 579-585.
• Russell, C.K., Robinson, L. & Ball, H.L. (2013). Infant Sleep Development: Location, Feeding and Expectations in the Postnatal Period. The Open Sleep Journal 6(Suppl 1): M9, 68-76.
• Ball, H.L. & Volpe, L.E. (2013). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) risk reduction and infant sleep location: Moving the discussion forward. Social Science & Medicine 79: 84-91.
• Tully, K.P. & Ball, H.L. (2013). Misrecognition of need women's experiences of and explanations for undergoing cesarean delivery. Social science and medicine 85: 103-111.
• Ball, Helen L. & Russell, Charlotte K. (2013). Effect of behavioural-educational intervention on sleep for primiparous women and their infants in early postpartum: multisite randomised controlled trial. Student BMJ 346: f1164.
• Volpe, L.E., Ball, H.L. & McKenna, J.J. (2013). Nighttime parenting strategies and sleep-related risks to infants. Social Science & Medicine 79: 92-100.
• Jones, C. & Ball, H.L. (2013). Napping in English preschool children and the association with parents’ attitudes. Sleep Medicine 14(4): 352–358.
• Tully, K.P. & Ball, H.L. (2012). Postnatal Unit Bassinet Types When Rooming-In After Cesarean Section Birth: Implications for Breastfeeding and Infant Safety. Journal of Human Lactation 28(4): 495-505.
• Ball, H.L. (2012). The latest on bed-sharing and breastfeeding. Community Practitioner 85(1): 29-31.
• Russell, C.K., Howel, D., Ward-Platt, M.P. & Ball, H.L. (2012). Use of interactive telephone technology for longitudinal data collection in a large trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials 33: 364-368.
• Ball, H.L., Moya, E., Fairley, L., Westman, J., Oddie, S. & Wright, J. (2012). Infant care practices related to sudden infants death syndrome in South Asian and White British families in the UK. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 26(1): 3-12.
• Ball, H.L. (2012). Sleeping with the baby. Breastfeeding Briefs 53: 1-12.
• Ball, H.L., Moya, E. Fairley, L., Westman, J., Oddie, S. & Wright, J. (2012). Bed and sofa-sharing practices in a UK biethnic population. Pediatrics 129(3): e673-e681.
• Ball, H.L., Ward-Platt, M.P. Howel, D. & Russell, C.K. (2011). Randomised trial of sidecar crib use on breastfeeding duration (NECOT). Archives of Disease in Childhood 96(7): 630-634.
• Ball, H.L. (2009). Bed-sharing and co-sleeping: Research overview. New Digest 48: 22-27.
• Ball, H.L. (2009). Airway covering during bed-sharing. Child: Care, Health and Development 35(5): 728-737.
• Klingaman (now Tully), K.P. & Ball, H.L. (2009). Practicing evolutionary medicine in a postnatal ward: Ameliorating iatrogenic obstacles to breastfeeding. Anthropology News
• van den Berg, Martina & Ball, Helen L. (2008). Practices, advice and support regarding prolonged breastfeeding: a descriptive study from Sri Lanka. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 26(3): 229-243.
• Klingaman, K. & Ball, H. (2007). Anthropology of caesarean section birth and breastfeeding: Rationale for evolutionary medicine on the postnatal ward. Durham Anthropology Journal 14(1).
• Ball, Helen L. (2007). Together or apart? A behavioural and physiological investigation of sleeping arrangements for twin babies. Midwifery 23(4): 404-412.
• McKenna, James J., Ball, Helen L. & Gettler, Lee T. (2007). Mother–Infant Cosleeping, Breastfeeding and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: What Biological Anthropology Has Discovered About Normal Infant Sleep and Pediatric Sleep Medicine. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 134(S45): 133-161.
• Ball, Helen L. (2007). Bed-sharing practices of initially breastfed infants in the first 6 months of life. Infant and Child Development 16(4): 387-401.
• Ball, H.L. (2006). Bed-sharing on the post-natal ward: breastfeeding and infant sleep safety. Paediatrics and Child Health 11(Suppl A): 43A-46A.
• Ball, Helen L. (2006). Caring for twin infants: sleeping arrangements and their implications. Evidence Based Midwifery 4(1): 10-16.
• Ball, H.L., Ward-Platt, M.P., Heslop, E., Leech, S.J. & Brown, K.A. (2006). Randomised trial of infant sleep location on the postnatal ward. Archives of Disease in Childhood 91(12): 1005-1010.
• Ball, H.L. (2006). Parent-Infant Bed-sharing Behavior: effects of feeding type, and presence of father. Human Nature: an interdisciplinary biosocial perspective 17(3): 301-318.
• Blair, P.S. & Ball, H.L. (2004). The prevalence and characteristics associated with parent–infant bed-sharing in England. Archives of Disease in Childhood 89: 1106-1110.
• Wailoo, M., Ball, H.L., Fleming, P.J. & Ward-Platt, M.P. (2004). Infants bed-sharing with mothers: helpful, harmful or don't we know? Archives of Disease in Childhood 89(12): 1082-1083.
• Ball, H.L. (2003). Breastfeeding, bed-sharing and infant sleep. Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care 30(3): 181-188.
• Ball, H.L. (2002). Reasons to bed-share: why parents sleep with their infants. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 20(4): 207-222.
• Ball, H.L. (2002). Triadic bed-sharing and infant temperature. Child: Care, Health and Development 28(Supplement s1): 55-58.
• Hooker, E., Ball, H.L. & Kelly, P.J. (2000). Sleeping like a baby: parent-infant cosleeping in North Tees, England. Medical Anthropology 19: 203-222.
• Ball, H., Hooker, E. & Kelly, P.J. (2000). Parent-Infant Cosleeping: fathers' roles and perspectives. Infant and Child Development 9(2): 67-74.
• Ball, H.L., Hooker, E. & Kelly, P.J. (1999). Where will the baby sleep? Attitudes and practices of new and experienced parents regarding cosleeping with their new-born infants. American Anthropologist 101(1): 143-151.
• Ball, H.L. & Hill, C.M. (1998). Insurance ovulation, embryo mortality and twinning. Journal of Biosocial Science 31(2): 245-255.
• Ball, H.L. (1997). Daddy’s girl? Anomalous social rank of a female rhesus macaque. Folia Primatologica 68(44-49).
• Hill, C.M. & Ball, H.L. (1996). Abnormal Births & Other Ill-Omens: The adaptive case for Infanticide. Human Nature 7(4): 381-402.
• Ball, H.L. & Swedlund, A.C. (1996). Poor Women and Bad Mothers: placing the blame for turn-of-the-century infant mortality. Northeast Anthropology 52: 31-52.
• Ball, H.L. & Hill, C.M. (1996). Twin Infanticide Revisited. Current Anthropology 37(5): 856-863.
• Hauser, M., Perry, S., Manson, J., Ball, H., Williams, M., Pearson, E. & Berard, J. (1991). It's all in the hands of the beholder: new data on free ranging rhesus monkeys. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 14(2): 342-343.

Newspaper/Magazine Article

• Ball, Helen L. (2018). The Infant Sleep Myth. Society Now (30): 18-19.
• Ward-Platt, M.P. & Ball, H.L. (2002). Rooming-in at the Hospital: Assessing the Practical Considerations. Mothering Magazine (US) Sept(114).
• Ball, H.L. (2002). Bed-sharing Research in Britain. Mothering Magazine (US) Sept.

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Ball, Helen L. (2021). Is the sleep of normal babies the same as 'normal infant sleep'? Website(April 2021).

Other (Print)

• Ball, H.L., Blair, P.S. & Ward-Platt, M.P. (2004). 'New' practice of bedsharing and risk of SIDS (letter). Lancet 363(9420): 1558.
• Blair, P. Fleming, P.J., Ball, H.L. & Ward-Platt, M.P. (2001). Surprised by publication (letter). Pediatrics 108(5).
• Ball, H.L. (1992). Reproductive Reform and Ideology of Women. Rockefeller Archive Center Research Reports Spring: 8-9.

Report

• Ball, H.L. (2002). Risks to infants of sharing the parental bed: a physiological & behavioural study. Final report to Scottish Cot Death Trust. Glasgow.
• Ball, H.L., Hooker, E. & Heslop, E. (2000). Night-time caregiving and parent-infant sleep strategies in the North East of England. Final Report to Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths. London.