The Academic Midwife

Very excited to say that our new book is available for pre-order! A project of passion, sweat and tears! So many amazing contributors! If you or someone you know is looking to survive and thrive in Midwifery then please, if you are so inclined pre-order now: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Surviving+and+Thriving+in+Midwifery-p-9781119881001

Thanks to the International Confederation of Midwives for featuring our latest global research on midwifery leadership in their latest newsletter:

Enablers of Strong Midwifery Leadership: An International Appreciative Inquiry – Part 2 | International Confederation of Midwives Strengthening midwifery leadership globally is crucial for improving maternal health outcomes. This research identifies key characteristics and enablers for effective midwifery leadership.

Such an amazing day working with The Royal College of Midwives HQ on this exciting project www.findthemidwife.com

https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/research-and-innovation/midwifery-academics-produce-guide-on-gender-inclusivity-21-06-2024/

Midwifery academics produce guide on gender inclusivity Researchers have proposed new guidance for midwifery and perinatal leaders who wish to make thei...

Effective communication in relation to pregnancy and birth is crucial to quality care. A recent focus in reproductive healthcare on “s*xed language” reflects an ideology of unchangeable s*x binary and fear of erasure, from both cisgender women and the profession of midwifery. In this paper, we highlight how privileging s*xed language causes harm to all who birth—including pregnant trans, gender diverse, and non-binary people—and is, therefore, unethical and incompatible with the principles of midwifery. We show how this argument, which conflates midwifery with essentialist thinking, is unstable, and perpetuates and misappropriates midwifery's marginalized status. We also explore how s*x and gender essentialism can be understood as colonialist, heteropatriarchal, and universalist, and therefore, reinforcing of these harmful principles. Midwifery has both the opportunity and duty to uphold reproductive justice. Midwifery can be a leader in the decolonization of childbirth and in defending the rights of all childbearing people, the majority of whom are cisgender women. As the systemwide use of inclusive language is central to this commitment, we offer guidance in relation to how inclusive language in perinatal and midwifery services may be realized. Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12844

New evidence based clinical guidelines for the management of hEDS & HSD during published in Plos One this May awareness month: thx to The Ehlers-Danlos Society & team: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0302401

Thanks to the International Confederation of Midwives for featuring our international appreciative inquiry exploring characteristics of strong Midwifery leaders in their newsletter:

Characteristics of Strong Midwifery Leaders: An International Appreciative Inquiry | International Confederation of Midwives Explore the characteristics of strong midwife leaders identified through international research, highlighting key traits essential for improved perinatal healthcare and staff empowerment.

Excited to be launching our new project today at The Johns Hopkins University with Mary Fissell Noelene Jeffers, PhD, CNM, IBCLC annette porter and Bernadette Wegenstein

Www.findthemidwife.com

Find the Midwife delves into the traditions and history of midwifery from the perspective of midwives and research, reexamining the significance of an ages old profession and its necessity the modern world.

This research informs the strengthening and enablement of midwifery leaders/leadership globally. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2024.103982

Findings offer characteristics and enablers of strong midwifery leadership in a context where weak midwifery leadership has been linked to a range of scandals and adverse outcomes.

Midwives and nurse-midwives around the world identified ten characteristics of strong midwifery leaders and seven enablers of strong midwifery leadership. Characteristics were mapped to a variety of leadership styles and may inform both existing and new developments in healthcare leadership models, measurement tools and frameworks.

This study contributes to understandings of trait, behavioral, situational, transformational and servant leadership theory and practice.

This research aimed to identify the characteristics of strong midwifery leaders and explore how strong midwifery leadership may be enabled from the perspective of midwives and nurse-midwives globally.

Design
In this appreciative inquiry, we collected qualitative and demographic data using a cross-sectional online survey between February and July 2022.

Setting
Responses were received from many countries (n=76), predominantly the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, the United States of America (USA), Canada, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Rwanda, India, and Kenya.

Participants
An international population (n=429) of English-speaking, and ethnically diverse midwives (n=211) and nurse-midwives (n=218).

Measurements
Reflexive thematic analysis was used to make sense of the qualitative data collected. Identified characteristics of strong midwifery leadership were subsequently deductively mapped to established leadership styles and leadership theories. Demographic data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Findings
Participants identified strong midwifery leaders as being mediators, dedicated to the profession, evidence-based practitioners, effective decision makers, role models, advocates, visionaries, resilient, empathetic, and compassionate. These characteristics mapped to compassionate, transformational, servant, authentic, and situational leadership styles. To enable strong midwifery leadership, participants identified a need for investment in midwives’ clear professional identity, increased societal value placed upon the midwifery profession, ongoing research, professional development in leadership, interprofessional collaborations, succession planning and increased self-efficacy.

Key conclusions and implications for practice
This study contributes to understandings of trait, behavioural, situational, transformational and servant leadership theory in the context of midwifery. Investing in the development of strong midwifery leadership is essential as it has the potential to elevate the profession and improve perinatal outcomes worldwide. Findings may inform the development of both existing and new leadership models, frameworks, and validated measurement tools.

https://t.co/0Ug79tDoK1

BBC One - Panorama, Midwives under Pressure Panorama investigates the maternity care crisis that is putting women and babies at risk.

Our new research suggests some complications considered "normal" for pregnancy and birth may be related to conditions of hypermobility: https://mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/20/6957

Great to have this work published: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/20/6955

We worked with the The Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists RCOG, Make Birth Better, The Ehlers-Danlos Society, The Hypermobility Syndromes Associationand Ehlers-Danlos Support UK to make this happen.

This work also won the 2021 partnership working award from the The Royal College of Midwives

What was it like to be a healthcare worker during ? ➡️ bit.ly/3OESk6r

Please share your experiences of listening to the audio artworks exhibition

📢 Research participants required! 📢 Are you pregnant & living in the UK?🤰🇬🇧

Please take our 5 minute survey exploring barriers to 🚶🏊🤸

Link: https://coventry.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/bringing-bpaps-to-the-uk-first-study

Ethics approval obtained from Coventry University. Please share widely 🎓❤️

Come & do this PhD with us 🤓🎓🥳 fully funded! Please share: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/midwifery-gender-and-professional-identities-exploring-the-professional-identities-of-midwives-in-the-context-of-gender-diversity-and-inclusion/?p155523

Happy 🏳️‍🌈‍🥳

New blog post "Trans Midwifery: Shaping the future of perinatal care"

Link: https://sallypezaro.wordpress.com/2023/01/31/trans-midwifery-shaping-the-future-of-perinatal-care/

Offer your views on shaping new research. A opportunity & more!

🏳️‍⚧️💓

Trans Midwifery: Shaping the future of perinatal care We recently had our research published in Gender & Society, and we wanted to thank all of you who gave your time to shape the direction of this research early on. We hope that further down you …

Our new article in The Conversation UK: https://theconversation.com/building-more-inclusive-pregnancy-services-for-trans-and-non-binary-people-isnt-about-a-culture-war-198175

"Building more inclusive pregnancy services for trans and non-binary people isn’t about a culture war"

Building more inclusive pregnancy services for trans and non-binary people isn't about a culture war Providing appropriate care for both cisgender women and trans and nonbinary people need not be mutually exclusive.

New Year New Goals? Fully funded studentship available: https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/research-opportunities/research-students/research-studentships/midwifery-gender-and-professional-identities-exploring-the-professional-identities-of-midwives-in-the-context-of-gender-diversity-and-inclusion/

'Midwifery, gender, and professional identities: exploring the professional identities of midwives in the context of gender diversity and inclusion'

New research out today in ’Gender & Society’ ; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08912432221138086

Tag someone who needs to read this 🏳️‍⚧️

Check out our new campaign

We're proud to showcase a powerful video campaign, , highlighting the role we can all play in helping to prevent s*xual and domestic violence and abuse, created by researchers at Coventry University.

The aim of the campaign is to enable young people and others to recognise different guises of abuse and encourage them to reach out to agencies for advice and support.

""The concept for this film was co-designed with survivors of s*xual and domestic violence and abuse.”
Dr Lorna O'Doherty, Associate Professor at Coventry University’s Centre for Intelligent Healthcare and lead investigator on MESARCH

“It’s important to say that abuse is never the victim’s fault, it is always the perpetrator who is at fault. Victims don’t need rescuing, but they do need to feel supported to be able to get the help they need.”
Natalie Thompson, CEO of Coventry R**e and S*xual Abuse Centre (CRASAC)

Read more and watch the video centrepiece of this project here (trigger warning for s*xual and domestic violence and abuse): https://bit.ly/3gdlvyj

This week is . Tonight is the ..lighting candles🕯 in memory of all the babies no longer with us. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤍🤎

Excited to be here in Rome!

A fabulous PhD Project here investigating the emotional wellbeing of newly qualified midwives during their first year of practice.

This is a longitudinal study and the intention is to recruit final year students at the end of their programme and follow them up at 6 and 12 months post registration.

The overall aim of this PhD is to look at what strategies could be implemented to help support the wellbeing of new midwives: https://northumbria.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/nqms-and-emotional-wellbeing-initial-survey-2022

Honoured to receive this award from The Ehlers-Danlos Society 🏆 Thank you!

This award honors a person with unparalleled dedication to the International Consortium on EDS & HSD who has demonstrated a commitment to supporting patients and working for awareness and education for the wider community.

However, success is rarely achieved alone. I get work with awesome people all over the world. So this award really just amplifies the success we can achieve when we work together. The best is yet to come 🦓

https://www.evidentlycochrane.net/evidence-for-maternity-care-new-evidence-and-resources-july-2022/

Evidence for Maternity Care: new evidence and resources - July 2022 - Evidently Cochrane The latest evidence and resources for midwives and clinical support staff.

Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Postnatal Care in EDS and HSD.

A small number of studies have looked at the challenges the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) and hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) can present in pregnancy, childbirth, and postnatal care, and yet there are currently no international guidelines.

The Ehlers-Danlos Society is supporting a team of international experts, led by Dr. Sally Pezaro The Academic Midwife who are producing much-needed guidelines in this area.

Read more: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/pregnancy-childbirth-and-postnatal-care-in-eds-and-hsd/