I am a registered midwife, and work part-time as an RCM Research Advisor. I have co-led the development of the current RCM Research Strategy and the RCM JLA Research Prioritisation Project.  

I completed a PhD in Healthcare Sciences in 2018. My title was ‘Exploring decision making to create an active offer of planned home birth’. I used a pragmatic mixed-methods approach, including non-participant observations, interviews, concept analysis and focus groups/ workshops to create a new way for midwives to ‘offer’ home birth to women and birthing people that acknowledges and addresses the barriers that exist for many to even consider the option of home birth for themselves.  

My previous roles have included Programme Lead for a university in Wales, where I developed and led on a Masters in Midwifery pathway. I have also been the Qualitative Research Assistant on a multi-centre RCT to establish if the Circle of Security-Parenting (COS-P) intervention is more effective than treatment as usual in improving symptoms of maternal mental illness and mother-infant bonding for mothers in NHS perinatal mental health services. In this role I undertook interviews with parents and practitioners, and led focus groups with practitioners as part of the study’s process evaluation.  

My current interest is about how the UK maternity services are configured to provide care for victims and survivors of sexual abuse and sexual violence. I work closely with people with lived experience. I hope to publish the findings of a Freedom of Information request on this subject in the near future.