Laura Atherton is the milk bank lead at the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust, with a passion for compassionate, family-centred care. She is the founder of the award winning Memory Milk Gift initiative, supporting bereaved families to make informed, meaningful choices about lactation after loss. Laura works nationally to improve education, policy and multidisciplinary collaboration around bereavement care, donor milk and lactation support. Her work champions dignity, choice and equity for families experiencing loss, while strengthening pathways between maternity and neonatal services, milk banks and bereavement teams to ensure every family receives sensitive, evidence-based support at the most vulnerable time.

Sara Balmforth is an experienced midwife and a national leader in perinatal palliative care. As the first midwife in Europe to work within a children’s hospice, she supports families at Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice whose pregnancies or babies are affected by life shortening conditions. Sara brings over two decades of expertise in labour ward coordination, bereavement care, and family centred support. She works closely with the Milk Bank at Chester on the award winning Memory Milk Gift initiative, recognised with the King’s Award for Integrated Approaches to Care at the Nursing Times Awards. Sara has recently been invited by SOFT UK to take on a hospice advisory role, offering her specialist insight to help strengthen the charity’s support for families navigating complex diagnoses.

Zoë Vowles is a midwife and NIHR Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellow at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust/King’s College London. Her PhD is a mixed methods study exploring how pregnant and postnatal women with two or more long-term health conditions use health services and experience midwifery care, as part of multi-disciplinary maternity care. She was a co-investigator in the MuM-PreDiCT collaboration, a study across four countries in the UK to improve care for pregnant women who are managing two or more long-term health conditions. Previously, as a midwife researcher with the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South London Maternity and Perinatal Mental Health theme she worked on research on community-based continuity of midwifery care models; implementation of the Maternal Mental Health services (ESMI-III); and continues to work on participatory research on tackling inequalities in maternal health. Zoë has extensive experience as a Clinical Research Midwife supporting delivery of a range of clinical trials and studies on pregnancy complications. She has many years of experience as a clinical midwife including in community-based roles providing continuity of midwifery carer, and also caring for women with long-term conditions in pregnancy.

Makini took part in PROMISE because she values the impact that intentional research can have. By intentional, she refers to research that draws on the genuine experiences of service users to create meaningful, positive change. Recognizing that maternity services often show some of the most significant disparities in outcomes for mothers and babies, Makini felt a responsibility to participate—not only to share her own perspective but also to learn from others.

Emily is a final-year midwifery student at the University of East Anglia, with a strong interest in midwifery education, research, and policy development. Her recent work focuses on exploring how regulatory and educational structures shape student experience and woman-centred care. She is the lead author of nationally recognised research examining student midwives’ experiences of the 40 personally facilitated birth requirement, with findings published in the British Journal of Midwifery and MIDIRS. This work has contributed to national conversations on student wellbeing, compassionate learning cultures, and proportionate measures of competence. Her research and reflective scholarship have been shared with key stakeholders, including the NMC, RCM, and NHS England, as well as at national and international conferences.

Alice is currently the Director of Midwifery for NHS Tayside, a post she has held since February 2025. Prior to this, Alice worked as a Consultant Midwife both in Scotland and in London, having spent the majority of her career to date in South East London. Alice is passionate about ensuring high-quality midwifery care is accessible to all women, and believes strongly that we must create a better working environment for midwives to enable high quality care to be delivered. Women’s birthing conditions are midwives working conditions, and you cannot improve one without the other. Alice holds a Masters in Public Health, and it was through this that she began to research the psychological trauma midwives are exposed to through their work, and the long term impact this has on midwives well-being and how it changes the way in which we practice. She is keen now to look forward at how we can bring about real changes to support midwives to flourish and be supported in their careers both in Scotland and across the UK.

Professor Joanne Davies is a senior midwife, academic leader, and internationally recognised expert in simulation-based and immersive learning for healthcare. She is Professor and Head of Simulation Education at Swansea University and the Founding Director of the award winning Simulation and Immersive Learning Centre (SUSIM), leading a £7.5m programme delivering large-scale simulation, virtual reality, and interprofessional education within Wales. With over 30 years’ experience spanning clinical midwifery, education, research, and major healthcare system start-ups, Professor Davies has held leadership roles in the UK, Australia, and the Middle East. She previously directed the design and commissioning of a $30m simulation and education centre supporting the system testing and opening of a 450-bed women’s and children’s hospital in Qatar and co-founded the Qatar Simulation Consortium. A passionate advocate for women’s health, safety, and workforce development, her work focuses on improving team and healthcare outcomes through high-quality education, faculty development, human factors, and system testing. Professor Davies regularly advises governments and professional bodies, presents internationally, and partakes in national and global collaborations advancing simulation, and immersive learning practice. Her passionate is to mentor the next generation of simulation champions to support team and system improvements across the sectors which has expanded through her work at SUSIM to also include postgraduate simulation research, sports science, industry, community and charity projects.

Debbie is a Principal Lecturer in Midwifery with extensive experience in education, leadership, project management and clinical practice. She is passionate about human connections and advancing midwifery education to improve outcomes for women, birthing people, and families. Debbie has led curriculum development and implemented innovative leadership strategies grounded in the principles of courage, visibility, and compassion, transforming the student experience. Debbie has held several leadership roles, including Programme Lead for Pre- and Post-Registration Midwifery programmes and Governance/CQC Lead for an acute trust and a university, strengthening partnerships between universities and clinical settings. At a national level, she was appointed as Co-Chair of the NHS England Reducing Term Admissions for Hypoglycemia working party and contributed as a member of the UNICEF UK, Baby Friendly Initiative Designation Committee. Alongside her academic leadership, Debbie is a qualified Life and Wellness Coach, with a passion for empowering individuals to realise their own goals and potential. At the RCM Research and Education Conference 2026, Debbie will present on “Empowering Midwives Through Coaching, exploring how coaching strategies can enhance student autonomy and belonging. Her motto is Trust the process.

Jade Deacon Cummings is a specialist midwife at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where she leads care for high-risk pregnancies in women with diabetes. As a key member of the multidisciplinary healthcare team, she works alongside obstetric and diabetes consultants to ensure optimal outcomes for mothers and their unborn children. Drawing from her Black-Caribbean heritage, Ms. Cummings brings valuable cultural insight to her practice, particularly in developing tailored care for Black-Caribbean women managing diabetes before and during pregnancy. In her current role, she provides continuity of care from early pregnancy through delivery, supporting women with pre-existing and gestational diabetes. Her understanding of both diabetes management and pregnancy care positions her to facilitate collaboration between clinical teams, ensuring seamless communication and coordinated care delivery. She leads patient education programmes and coordinates personalised care plans, with emphasis on cultural-specific needs. Ms. Cummings is passionate about improving healthcare equity, working to transform diabetes care in pregnancy for underserved communities.

Natasha a midwife by background, having trained at the University of Hertfordshire in 2012. She has held various roles before moving into clinical research delivery, most recently serving as Senior Clinical Research Midwife at University College London Hospital, leading NIHR portfolio studies in women’s health. Her research focuses on perinatal mental health, particularly infant feeding support for women with severe mental illness. Natasha completed a Master of Research at St George’s University of London in 2017 and was awarded an NIHR pre-doctoral fellowship to develop her doctoral proposal. In 2021, she received an NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship at King’s College London, where her PhD explored infant feeding in the context of severe mental illness, aiming to inform tailored resources for women and healthcare professionals.

Dr Amanda Firth is an experienced midwifery educator and early career researcher with a sustained commitment to advancing evidence-based, equitable maternity care. Her research centres on tackling health inequalities, with a particular focus on improving outcomes for minoritised women, birthing people, and families. She is especially motivated to enhance access to, and engagement with, culturally appropriate maternity and perinatal mental health services. The research she is presenting at the RCM Education and Research Conference was funded by a Mary Seacole Research Development Award and builds on her doctoral work, which examined how maternity services can be strengthened to better support asylum seeking and refugee women experiencing perinatal mental health concerns. Amanda is currently undertaking a Wellbeing of Women post-doctoral research fellowship, through which she is developing recommendations for how midwives and interpreters can work together more effectively to support women to discuss their mental health. Alongside this, she contributes to several NIHR-funded studies focused on perinatal mental health, and works collaboratively with voluntary sector organisations to assess and enhance the visibility of their crucial support for minoritised women and families. Amanda remains dedicated to research that drives meaningful, practice-focused improvements in maternity care.

Alice is a medical student at Imperial College School of Medicine, and is currently in her fourth year, undertaking a BSc in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences. Her recent project has been featured in the CMV Congress 2025 in Naples, Italy. Alice is pursuing her interest in paediatric infectious diseases and aims to become involved in similar projects outside of her studies. At this conference she will share her findings on midwifery knowledge and practice experience of congenital cytomegalovirus.

Alejandra is a registered midwife and global health professional specialising in sexual and reproductive health, health inequities, and qualitative research. She holds an MSc in Global Health and Development from University College London. Her academic work focuses on the intersection of gender, race, and health policy, with her research project, a qualitative meta-synthesis on informed choice for women living with HIV in Brazil. Alejandra has four years of clinical experience in the NHS at Lewisham and Greenwich Trust, caring for diverse populations across community and hospital maternity settings. She has taken part in service improvement initiatives, including the Birth After Caesarean Section (BACS) Team, supporting informed decision-making for women whom have had a previous caesarean in the borough of Greenwich. She has worked at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office in Panama, contributing to regional analyses on sexual and reproductive health outcomes among Afro-descendant, Indigenous, and adolescent populations. Her work spans policy-oriented evidence review to address adolescent fertility rates and HIV amongst young people, as well as stakeholder engagement. Alejandra is committed to advancing equitable and culturally responsive health systems through research, policy, and practice.

Dr Aimee Grant is an Associate Professor and Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow at Swansea University. She has researched marginalised pregnancy and early motherhood for more than a decade, including those living in poverty, stigmatised locations and Disabled women. Aimee’s current research includes an 8 year Wellcome Trust funded study which interviews 100 Autistic people regularly for five years to understand Autistic experiences “from menstruation to menopause”. She is the author of The Autism Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, birth and the fourth trimester (Jessica Kingsley, 2025), is a Deputy editor for the journal Autism in Adulthood, and was added to the Disability Power 100 list in 2023.

Tomasina is an experienced clinical midwife, researcher and educator. Originally studying and working in London, she spent many years in Australia and New Zealand where she experienced different models of care. Since returning to the UK she has worked as a consultant midwife, clinical academic and researcher/educator. Over the last 20 years, Tomasina’s research has focused on trying to understand and mitigate the risk of stillbirth. She has been involved in a number of national and internal research studies that have had a direct impact on public health policy and practice. She continues to be interested in how we can best educate, support and retain the midwifery workforce.

Andrew is an NHS Anaesthetist who has combined his clinical training with medical education roles at Imperial College London. He is passionate about the need for effective, lifelong learning for the multi-disciplinary NHS maternity workforce, as well as the role that emerging technologies can play in delivering this at scale. He is one of NHS England’s Clinical Entrepreneurs and is the Founder/CEO of Upskill.Health.

Matt is an experienced educator and learning technology professional with a career spanning over two decades. He is currently the eLearning Systems and Content Manager at The Royal College of Midwives, where he has played a pivotal role in advancing its learning platform, i-learn, and e-learning content. Matt is also pursuing a PhD in e-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning at Lancaster University. Passionate about enhancing learner experiences, Matt continues to make significant contributions to the field of learning technology and education.

Lisa began her career as a nurse before qualifying as a midwife in the early 1990s. Since then, she has held a variety of roles and currently works within the Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) team, focusing on improving quality, safety, and experience for the local population. Her passion for maternity safety underpins her commitment to education and its critical role in achieving better outcomes. She has led initiatives to bring education teams together across the system, fostering collaboration, peer support, and shared learning. This has helped create a unified approach to education and professional development.

A highlight of Lisa’s career was joining the first cohort of midwives on the Royal College of Midwives’ twinning project in Cambodia. This humbling experience provided invaluable personal and professional insights and inspired her to volunteer in other resource-limited countries, delivering emergency skills training to support local teams. Lisa is proud of the progress made in strengthening education networks and promoting safety in maternity care.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her three wonderful grandchildren, who keep her busy and bring great joy.

Zoi is a Lecturer in midwifery at City St George’s, University of London. An experienced midwife, academic, and part-time doctoral researcher, she has worked across NHS and Higher Education settings. Her practice and teaching are grounded in a commitment to promoting the physiology of birth and supporting safe, empowering experiences for women and birthing people. Her interests include supporting unconventional (out-of-guidance) birth choices in midwifery-led and community settings, sustaining midwifery-led care, waterbirth, birth satisfaction, advocacy, and global maternal health. She integrates art-based, creative, and reflective approaches into midwifery curricula to nurture student wellbeing, build a sense of connection, and help learners navigate the challenges of midwifery studies. Through this PMA work, she seeks to cultivate reflection, resilience, and empowerment in the next generation of midwives. Zoi is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Hertfordshire, investigating Out-of-Guidance birth choice services within NHS maternity services. Using a mixed-methods design, her research examines how organisations support those choosing care outside established guidelines. A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, she also serves as an Academic Professional Midwifery Advocate and as a co-founder and board member of the Hellenic British Midwifery Association, advancing midwifery collaboration and maternal health globally.

Sheridan Thomas is a Lecturer in midwifery at the University of Salford whose work centres on addressing structural inequities in midwifery education and maternity care. Her scholarship focuses on decolonising midwifery curricula, cultural safety, and the experiences of minoritised groups within educational and clinical settings. Through her research, she examines how inequities are reproduced in midwifery training and seeks evidence-informed approaches to create more inclusive learning environments and improving outcomes for diverse populations. Sheridan’s published work includes a systematic review that synthesises key principles underpinning decolonising interventions in midwifery education, alongside contributions exploring representation, belonging, and inclusive pedagogies. Her research intends to informs curriculum design and assessment strategies within the programmes she teaches, supporting efforts to reduce awarding gaps and enhance equitable learning experiences. She also collaborates with NHS organisations, local maternity systems, and national professional bodies to translate research insights into practice, contributing to initiatives that strengthen cultural safety and antiracist practice across maternity services.

Sian is a Lecturer in Healthcare Sciences (Midwifery) at Bangor University and is a Midwife and Academic. Sian started her Midwifery journey working within the acute setting in North Wales prior to commencing a Community Midwife role in 2015. Sian held a variety of roles within the team and introduced Community PROMPT within the local area with the Welsh Risk Pool as PROMPT faculty.   In 2018, Sian completed her MSc in Public Health and Health promotion, concentrating on gestational diabetes care during the dissertation process and subsequently, co-published her research with colleagues. Sian supported the academic team as an honorary lecturer intermittently from 2016, prior to commencing a permanent role with Bangor University in 2022. Sian is a first language Welsh speaker and works across the three years of Midwifery education, supporting the Welsh language provision. Sian also works within the local health board as a bank Midwife.

Lindsey is a full time member of the midwifery team at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, where she teaches across the full curriculum and is committed to ensuring that learning is a positive and engaging experience for students. Her expertise spans health, social care, medical innovation, and midwifery, with a particular focus on the Newborn and Infant Physical Examination (NIPE). In 2016, she successfully introduced NIPE into ARU’s undergraduate programme, embedding essential screening skills into midwifery education. Currently undertaking doctoral research, Lindsey is exploring how digital technology can enhance neonatal screening. As part of this work, she developed the NIPE ‘textbook in a pocket’ app, designed for midwives, neonatal nurses, GPs, and nurse practitioners to support accurate NIPE screening within 72 hours of birth and again at 6–8 weeks. This innovation reflects her commitment to combining clinical expertise with technological solutions to improve patient care. Lindsey is also involved as screening trainer in the DIvO (Digital Imaging versus Ophthalmoscopy) study, a major NIHR funded clinical trial led by Consultant Ophthalmologist Louise Allen at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Involving 50,000 babies across 24 midwifery units in England, the study compares digital imaging with traditional ophthalmoscopy to determine the most effective method of detecting congenital cataracts in newborns.

Louise qualified as a midwife in 2002 and through her work for University Hospital Southampton (UHS) NHS Foundation Trust she has had the privilege of providing antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care for women, birthing people and their babies, in both the hospital and community setting. Facilitating evidence-based decision making and informed choice has always been a passionate interest of Louise’s, and she has really enjoyed having the opportunity to pursue this in greater depth through her current role working within UHS’s ‘Maternity Information and Support’ Team. Louise is also a postgraduate research student at Bournemouth University. Continuing to develop her interest in public health, Louise’s PhD thesis evaluates the ‘Integrated Antenatal Care Pathway’, implemented by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. It is an innovative approach which provides women and birthing people with personalised continuity of smoking cessation care from their named midwife throughout their pregnancy, within both the in-patient and community setting. Smoking during pregnancy is a very emotive subject, however, Louise has relished having the opportunity to develop her midwifery career through both research and teaching.

Marie-Clare is a research associate in the Research in Childbirth and Health Unit (REACH) at UCLan. She has worked as a lecturer and researcher in History, Women’s Studies and Midwifery. She has worked on a range of national and international projects related to maternal wellbeing and has over 35 publications. Her current research focuses on maternity care and social support for marginalised women with a particular focus on migrant women’s experiences of maternity care and childbirth in the UK and Europe. Her doctoral work focused on social support, health inequalities and marginalisation exploring asylum seeking and refugee women’s experiences of perinatal social support using a feminist qualitative approach. Other recent work has been the development, as co-lead, of an interdisciplinary project which uses innovative creative methods to explore asylum seeking and refugee women’s experiences of motherhood through a focus on aspects of material culture, in the form of everyday objects related to motherhood.

Dr Mary Jo Chesnel is a midwifery lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast. Her PhD research firstly explored the factors that drive breastfeeding support practice, and a second study explored what breastfeeding support means to women using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. More recent interests include bridging the theory practice gap in breastfeeding education for student midwives, and advancing post-graduate midwifery education.

Munirah Alatawi is a lecturer of maternal health at the University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia and she is currently a postgraduate researcher at the University of Leeds, UK. Her research interests include women’s health studies. She is particularly interested in Maternal health in Saudi Arabia.

Rebecca is a Lecturer in Midwifery Education at King’s College London. Key roles include Programme Lead for the BSc Midwifery programme and Midwifery Elective Lead. Rebecca has over 10 years of experience working in the NHS with roles in all core areas of midwifery and extensive experience in clinical research delivery. Rebecca has authored over 15 peer-reviewed publications.

Shrouq is a PhD candidate in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom, sponsored by Mutah University in southern Jordan. She holds a Master’s degree in Maternity and Newborn Health Nursing and a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing. Previously, she worked as a faculty member at Princess Tharwat College in Amman, where she contributed to teaching and training undergraduate nursing and midwifery students.

Stephanie has been a midwife since 2012 and an Advanced Practitioner in Ultrasound since 2019. Throughout her career, she has developed a strong interest in integrating research and clinical practice to improve outcomes in maternity care. Her enthusiasm for research began early, leading her to complete both a Research Internship and a Research Associateship, where she gained valuable experience in study design, data analysis, and dissemination of findings.

Yemisi is Professor of Test Evaluation and Evidence Synthesis and Head of Department of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Birmingham. She is a biostatistician/methodologist on diagnostic research spanning early phase evaluation, clinical studies, and evidence synthesis to inform national and international guideline development and policy. Yemisi leads capacity development for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) West Midlands Evidence Synthesis Group (ESG) and the Warwick-Birmingham Screening ESG. She co-convenes the Cochrane Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Group, serves on the Cochrane Editorial Board, and is an editor of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy. Yemisi is deeply committed to research and researcher inclusion. She leads the NIHR-supported Race Equity and Diversity in Careers Incubator, which supports racially minoritised health and care researchers. She is also the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead for Workforce Voices, the NIHR funded Partnership for Workforce Sustainability in Underserved Areas.

Benash Nazmeen is a research curious Midwife and Midwifery Educator dedicated to addressing health inequalities and improving maternity care for both service users and healthcare professionals. She has co-designed and delivers Cultural Competency and Safety Workshops, supporting maternity professionals in providing equitable, person-centred care. This work has been recognised in the NHS Equity and Equality Guidance for Local Maternity Systems (2021). Benash is the Co-Founder of the Association of South Asian Midwives (ASAM), advocating for marginalised midwives and raising awareness of the challenges faced by diverse communities. She also co-chairs the Birth Rights Inquiry into Racial Injustice in UK Maternity Services and contributes to MBRRACE-UK’s Perinatal Confidential Enquiry Review Panel. An RCM Fellow, she has been recognised for her work with multiple awards, including the “Ground-breaking Researcher” award at the BAME Health & Care Awards 2022. At the RCM Conference, Benash will lead the workshop “Working with Language Barriers”, equipping midwives with practical strategies to enhance communication and care for diverse families.

Zenab is a political scientist and international development specialist dedicated to advancing maternal health equity. She has collaborated with leading institutions, including the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust, and NHS England. Between 2020 and 2022, she served as Chair of the National Maternity Voices Council and continued as a Director until February 2024. Her work centres on improving maternal and infant health outcomes through research and robust Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE), ensuring that communities play a meaningful role in shaping healthcare. A committed advocate for co-production and the ethical use of technology, Zenab is a contributor to The FRAIYA Study, which explores the use of artificial intelligence to enhance fetal scanning. She is also an active member of the Maternal and Perinatal Systems and Policy (MAPS) group within the School of Life Course & Population Sciences. She leads PPIE efforts for the No Recourse to Public Funds Programme, mentoring diverse stakeholders and championing fairer migration policies and maternal health equity. As the founder of Zenab Barry Consulting, she provides coaching, mentoring, leadership development, and cultural competency services. Across her work, Zenab continues to drive transformative change at the intersection of health, policy, and community engagement.

Dr Hannah Rayment-Jones is a midwife and Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Women and Children’s Health at King’s College London. Her research focuses on tackling maternal and child health inequalities, informed by her clinical experience and commitment to equity and social justice. She works to ensure that women’s voices are embedded in research and policy, shaping more inclusive and responsive maternity care. Hannah leads the NIHR-funded No Recourse to Public Funds (NoRePF) project, which investigates the health and social outcomes of women and children affected by current hostile immigration and NHS charging policies. This programme aims to strengthen the evidence base on how these policies influence maternal and child health, co-produce multidisciplinary guidance to support equitable, trauma-informed care for migrant families, and work with policymakers to inform future immigration policy. Her previous NIHR-funded PhD (Project20) explored how maternity care can improve outcomes for women experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage and social risk factors. She has contributed to national evaluations of maternal mental health services, supported the development of interventions for mothers separated from their babies, and serves as a clinical reviewer for the Ockenden Independent Maternity Review. Hannah is a member of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on building the capacity of healthcare workers caring for refugees and migrants, an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal for Equity in Health, and contributes to NHSE’s London Maternity Reducing Inequalities Care Bundle and Maternity Working Group developing an Initial Health Check for Migrants Arriving in Small Boats.

Octavia Wiseman is a Specialist Midwife who splits her time between clinical work and her role as a research fellow at City St. George’s, University of London working on midwifery-led models of care. She has worked as a caseloading midwife at King’s College Hospital and as a consultant midwife at Lewisham University Hospital. While at the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) Health Team she helped develop the Maternity Disadvantage Assessment Tool (MatDAT) to support midwives assessing social complexity, now hosted by the RCM. Since 2023 she has worked with the Local Maternity and Neonatal System (SEL LMNS) to develop the foreign-language parent education pilot for South East London. The pilot has been shortlisted for the 2026 RCM Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Award and Highly Commended by NHSE London for Reducing Inequalities in Maternity and Neonatal Care. She has published widely and is passionate about access to maternity care for women with limited English proficiency.

Dr Cull is a midwife and the Head of Nurse and Midwife Led Research at ACORN (A Centre of Research for Nurses and Midwives) at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. This role includes a secondment one day a week to London South Bank University as an Associate Professor. She currently holds an NIHR Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award and has previously been awarded an NIHR Wellbeing of Women Doctoral Fellowship and an HEE-NIHR Predoctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship.

Lauren is a midwife, doctoral researcher and charity trustee with experience across clinical practice, public health and digital health. Currently pursuing a PhD at Keele University, her research explores the facilitators and barriers to supporting families’ support needs during pregnancy and the early years. Lauren works closely with families and draws upon her own experiences to champion inclusive approaches that recognise and embrace diversity. Drawing on her experience as a clinician, project manager and systems analyst, Lauren works to connect clinical practice with approaches that promote equitable care, shaped by families and professionals in tandem. She is also a Shuri Digital Fellowship alumna and Iolanthe Midwives Award winner.

Lauren Philp-von Woyna is an Associate Professor in Midwifery with a distinguished academic career shaped by a commitment to inclusive, student-centred health education and strategic innovation in healthcare learning. With over a decade of experience in higher education, Lauren has led transformative initiatives across curriculum design, digital pedagogy, and workforce development, underpinned by her specialist interest in the sociocultural influences shaping healthcare education. Her doctoral research, a multi-case study exploring how sociocultural factors influence student midwife creativity, reflects her passion for amplifying student voices and fostering responsive learning environments. Lauren’s research and editorial contributions span topics such as ethnic inequalities in maternity care, digital influences on birth experiences, and conceptual frameworks for maternal health.

Jill is Professor of Maternal and Family Health at the University of Plymouth UK and holds honorary appointments as Guest Professor at KU Leuven Belgium and Director of Nursing/Midwifery at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust UK. Jill has extensive experience of working in the field of reproductive healthcare, public health and senior management as a clinical academic nurse/midwife. Her PhD studied preconception care for women with diabetes which has led to a programme of research (PREPARE) specialising in improving the health of people with medical conditions and their partners before and between pregnancies. Jill has been integral in forming the SWIMHER network of researchers with an interest in developing evidence and guidance for women who cold water swim.

Jessica qualified as a midwife in 2020, and her passion for supporting vulnerable women quickly led her to become a safeguarding midwife. Drawing on her own experience as a vulnerable young parent, she has a deep-rooted commitment to ensuring informed choice is embedded in every aspect of midwifery practice. To explore this further, she is currently completing a Master of Research at Bournemouth University, investigating how women make decisions about prescribed psychiatric medication use during pregnancy.

Holly began her career in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, where she developed a strong commitment to person-centred, community-based care. She went on to join the Homebirth Team in Edinburgh, a role that deepened her interest in birth physiology, women’s experiences and continuity of carer. Motivated to strengthen the evidence supporting these areas, she was awarded a First Steps into Research grant by NHS Lothian Gateway Awards, enabling her early research project experience. Holly is now a Chief Scientist Office Clinical Academic Fellow and PhD candidate, exploring government and senior management level barriers to implementing continuity of carer across Scotland, with the aim of informing future policy and practice.

Holly is a registered nurse and midwife, and became clinical research midwife in 2016. She is currently in a dual role, undertaking an NIHR Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship part time and as Head of Nursing for A Centre of Research for Nurses and Midwives. Her PhD explores how we can improve representation in maternity research. She is passionate about addressing ethnic inequalities in maternity care, research, and for our workforce.

Hazel qualified from Kingston University and began her career working across both community and hospital settings, where she developed a deep passion for promoting normality in childbirth, continuity of care, and the empowerment of women. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Midwifery and serves as Course Leader for both the Foundation Year and the three-year Midwifery programmes. In addition, she holds the role of Sustainability Lead for the School of Education, Midwifery and Social Work and is a Professional Midwifery Advocate (PMA), supporting midwives in reflective practice, professional development, and the delivery of high-quality, compassionate care.

Grace is a Midwifery Lecturer at King’s College London University. Their work focuses on perinatal mental health and midwifery education, and they have contributed to the MAP study on Perinatal Anxiety. Having qualified with a Bsc in Midwifery from King’s College London in 2018 and then undertaken an MSc with City university in Enhanced Midwifery care in 2021.Their recent work includes a student placement experience survey designed with a staff/student team, which aims to investigate what the experiences of students are in placement during their midwifery education. They are passionate about equity and inclusion in midwifery and education. In addition to their work, Grace contributes to the Cultivating Diversity in Midwifery group of staff and students at KCL.

Emma is a Registered Midwife and Senior Lecturer in Midwifery at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), where she leads several modules within the pre-registration midwifery curriculum. She has held academic roles at Northumbria University, the University of York, and Edge Hill University, contributing to midwifery education and research across a range of undergraduate programmes. She has also worked as a Research Midwife on a range of research projects. Emma’s professional and research interests include antenatal education, midwifery-led care, interprofessional learning, perinatal mental health, genomics, and workforce development. She is passionate about supporting midwifery-led research and is currently undertaking a PhD exploring the emotional wellbeing and retention of newly qualified midwives.

Hora leads the Maternal and Infant Health Research (MIHR) theme with high impact outputs. Hora was listed in the top 2% cited scientists in her field (SCHOLAR GPS). She has been an Editor/Senior Editorial Board Member for journals (e.g. BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth) and an expert advisor for organisations such as WHO and Public Health England. Her research is of a collaborative nature, focusing on care models reducing health inequalities for mothers and babies from the most disadvantaged and vulnerable backgrounds specifically related to maternal nutrition, physical activity and obesity, infant feeding, perinatal mental health, adolescent pregnancy and migration. Hora was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s new year honour list (Dec 2020) for her services to higher education and impact on maternal and infant health, guiding maternity policy development at national and international levels.

Emily is a Midwifery Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University with a strong commitment to inclusive education, peer support, and improving learning experiences for neurodivergent students. After completing her BSc in Midwifery at Sheffield Hallam University, she went on to achieve an MSc in Higher Midwifery from Anglia Ruskin University, focusing her major project on supporting neurodivergent student midwives.

Emily is an Assistant Professor in Midwifery at the University of Bradford and is currently undertaking an NIHR Pre-Doctoral Award to develop as a Mixed Methodologist researcher. She has a strong academic and clinical background with extensive experience in midwifery education, leadership, and curriculum innovation. Her work focuses on simulation-based learning, immersive technologies, and interprofessional education to enhance communication, leadership, and patient safety in maternity care.

Carla is Associate Professor, Head of Midwifery, and Lead Midwife for Education (LME) at Buckinghamshire New University. A registered midwife and midwife teacher with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Carla has over two decades of experience spanning clinical practice, education, and leadership. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and holds an MA in Medical Education, alongside postgraduate qualifications in teaching and learner development. Carla began her career as a midwife in 1997, progressing to senior roles in NHS maternity services before transitioning into academia in 2013. She has led midwifery programmes, chaired validation events, and contributed to national initiatives, including the development of apprenticeship standards and PROMPT obstetric training. Her teaching interests include obstetric emergencies, communication, and interprofessional learning. Currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Education at Staffordshire University, Carla’s research explores student midwives’ experiences of medicalisation in childbirth through a feminist lens. She is actively involved in scholarly projects on simulation-based training and preterm birth optimisation care bundles. Passionate about shaping the future workforce, Carla values empowering students to become safe, compassionate practitioners. She is a member of the Royal College of Midwives, BERA, and the NMC LME strategic group.

Emily is Professor of Performance Studies at the University of South Wales, where she serves as Co-Director of the George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling and Co-Chair of the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) Research Network Wales. Her work explores how the arts can illuminate and amplify personal stories from individuals whose voices have been marginalised or overlooked, and examines the impact that hearing these experiences can have on policy, practice, and everyday life for both teller and listener.

Edel is a dual-qualified nurse and midwife with over 30 years’ experience spanning clinical practice, research, and education. She trained as a nurse at King’s College London in 1991 and as a midwife at the University of York in 1997, before working across several leading UK hospitals including Chelsea and Westminster, UCLH, Warwick, Stoke Mandeville, Milton Keynes, and Watford. Edel holds a Master’s in Evidence-Based Health Care from the University of Oxford and a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. Her six years as a research midwife were transformative: she trained the majority of maternity staff in Good Clinical Practice, collaborated with Chief Investigators on national studies, and played a key role in placing her trust firmly on the research map. Now a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire, Edel leads research education across all midwifery programmes and serves as Apprentice Tutor. She has been instrumental in weaving research literacy throughout the curriculum, building skills year on year to develop confident, research-ready midwives who can drive evidence-based improvements in maternity care. Passionate about ethical, high-quality research, Edel champions the integration of Good Clinical Practice into midwifery education and is committed to empowering the next generation of midwives to shape the future of the profession.