Professor  Kathleen Baird has been a midwife since 1996, and has clinical and academic experience which stretches over two continents.  She is currently the  Professor of Midwifery, Head of the Midwifery and Co-Director of the Midwifery, Child and Family Health Research Centre at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). 

Professor Baird’s research has a strong focus on maternity care, models of maternity care, women’s health and intimate partner violence, particularly in relation to pregnancy and the role of health. She has worked alongside Government organisations such as the UK Home Office, Department of Health, Queensland Government and midwifery professional bodies such as the Royal College of Midwives and the Australian College of Midwives. 

Professor Baird is currently the Chair of ANMAC Midwifery Accreditation Committee, an executive member of SPHERE CAG for Women, Children and Newborn, and an executive member of the Australasian Nursing and Midwifery Clinical Trials Network. In recognition of her education expertise, she was awarded a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Authority (SFHEA) in 2019.  

Robyn is an Associate Professor in Midwifery and Head of Programme for Midwifery at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She is also leading the recently launched ‘Grow Our Own’ postgraduate nursing and midwifery education in conjunction with National University of Samoa. Professionally, Robyn is a member of the New Zealand Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (ministerial appointment renewed in 2021for five years). She is a midwifery and academic representative on the NZ Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) Neonatal Encephalopathy Taskforce where she was lead for the Fetal Heart Monitoring Working Group, and a past member of Health Workforce New Zealand (HWNZ) Midwifery External Advisory Group (MEAG). Robyn became a Justice of the Peace in March 2018.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Robyn's research interests are largely clinically focused and underpinned by a philosophy of 'Keeping Birth Normal'. Her research expertise is in mixed methods research, evaluation and narrative inquiry, and focuses on knowledge translation and its effects on midwifery practice.

Dr Angela Brown is the Midwifery Program Director and Senior Lecturer at the University of South Australia. Alongside her academic position, she is also a Board Director of the Australian College of Midwives, Board member of the Australian Women’s Health Network, member of the South Australian Perinatal Subcommittee, the midwifery representative for RANZCOG’s Women’s Health Committee, and sits on various other committees that support and advance midwifery practice and women’s health and wellbeing. These roles have enabled Angela to develop strong leadership, advocacy and collaboration skills and have afforded her opportunities to contribute to obstetric policy and guideline development at a State, National and International level. Angela also has an interest in business management and has a Masters degree in Business Administration. 

Associate Professor Amanda Carter has been a midwife for over 35 years and has worked in a variety of midwifery clinical, leadership, executive and academic roles. In her current position as Associate Professor – Midwifery at Griffith University Amanda is the Midwifery Lead and Program Director of the Bachelor of Midwifery program. 

Amanda’s research has a strong focus on innovation in midwifery teaching and learning within a values based transformational curriculum. Her most recent body of work focusses on the development and measurement of critical thinking in midwifery, and she is widely published in this area. In recognition of her teaching expertise, Amanda was awarded a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) Fellowship Scheme in 2020 and has received several individual and program teaching awards. Amanda is an assessor for the Australian and Midwifery Accreditation Council and a key reviewer for top academic journals in the field of midwifery, lactation and education.

Allison Cummins is the Head of Midwifery in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, the University of Newcastle. In her role she is implementing a new innovative curriculum and continues to make an outstanding contribution to student learning through innovative course design and embedding transitional workshops. Previously she worked as a course coordinator and program convenor in midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney for 10 years. During this time Allison was received recognition for her teaching receiving several teaching awards. She also received an award for impact in research. 

Allison has built a body of research around midwifery models of care and graduate transitions. Her renowned reputation for research in this specific area has led to international research opportunities attracting funding and invited keynote addresses. Her current projects have a focus evaluating the outcomes of midwifery continuity of care for women with perinatal mental health concerns and evaluating midwifery models of care known as midwifery antenatal and postnatal services (MAPS). 

Through internal and external service and engagement Allison has become a recognised leader in Midwifery. She is an elected Midwifery Director on the Board for the Australian College of Midwives, the peak professional body for midwives. Allison is the co-chair of the Trans-Tasman Midwifery Education Consortium and the Quality Maternal Newborn Care Research Alliance working group. Both these groups conduct research and inform policy in an international context. 

Allison is an Associate Editor of the midwifery journal “Women and Birth International” (WOMBI) that publishes relevant research on all matters that affect women and birth. WOMBI is ranked the number 1 midwifery journal in the world.  

Gina is a registered nurse-midwife who is Deputy Head of Programs for Nursing and Midwifery at Victoria University in Melbourne, Victoria.  She is a nurse-midwife researcher at the Institute for Health and Sport at Victoria University and teaches midwifery and nursing in the College of Health and Biomedicine, with extensive leadership in developing and implementing midwifery and nursing curricula. Her research projects broadly focus on how to best support nurse-midwives practising in busy hospital workplaces, and, evaluating midwifery and nursing students experiences of undergraduate education to improve their learning and understanding of being a nurse-midwife.  

The major research project at this time is aiming to develop peer support strategies to help midwives feel empowered and supported in their scope of practice to provide woman-centred care to women, babies and their families in a hospital setting. She was also a research team member in developing The Midwife Standards for Practice (NMBA, 2018).  Collaborations are with Western Health, Deakin University, Midwifery Academics of Victoria (MIDAC) and the Trans-Tasman Maternity Education Consortium of which VU is a member.

Jayne Lawrence in a Lecturer in Midwifery in the School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences at Charles Sturt University. Jayne is a proud Wiradjuri woman. She has experince in clincal midwifery, hospital and university based midwifery education and curriculum design. Her research has focussed on First Nations health and wellbeing, rural health, Aged care, practice enhancement, interprofessional collaboration and the health workforce.  Jayne has several publications and has co-authored a number of book chapters. Jayne provides cultural considerations and adaptation for co-design research projects with First Nations communities.

He uri ahau nō ngā pouwhenua o Raukawa, nō ngā hau e wha o Waikato, nō Tauranga Moana hoki.

Ko Tāpuhi LMC™ taku mahi

Ko Jacqueline Martin taku ingoa

I am a graduate of He Waka Hiringa 2017 and will graduate with my Doctorate of Indigenous Development and Advancement from Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Whakatāne, New Zealand in March 2024. 

As a Māori midwife of over 20 years, I understand fully, Māori would continue to be disadvantaged in midwifery. Change would require a shift in my perspective. I left the clinical floor and entered the educational field. I would return to the origin of midwifery, the Bachelor degree of midwifery, once again, but now, I return as a Kaiako of Midwifery, with the aim of effecting change, one graduate midwife at a time. 

I am honoured to work in this space.

Michelle Newton is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at La Trobe University. She has experience in clinical midwifery, hospital and university-based midwifery education and in curriculum design, and has led the design, development and implementation of midwifery curricula from Bachelor to Masters level. Michelle has expertise in the implementation and evaluation of midwifery-led models of care and in primary health care initiatives.  

Michelle’s PhD explored the implementation of caseload midwifery models of care, and current research focuses on the growth and sustainability of caseload models from a workforce and implementation perspective. Other research foci include the integration of continuity experiences into midwifery curricula, innovative models of employment of midwifery students in the maternity setting and the wellbeing of students and midwives in practice. Michelle and has established extensive professional networks through roles in the Australian College of Midwives and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council.   

Virginia is currently working in a conjoint position between Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District and Western Sydney University. Virginia is currently Chief Investigator on one major research project in two Local Health Districts of NSW that improves birth options for women. She recently worked in NSW across four Local Health Districts on a major research project in an effort to improve student midwives’ experiences. She mentors and supports midwives in the local health district with their research projects. She collaborates with other university academics across Australia and New Zealand as a member of the Trans Tasman Midwifery Education Committee (TTMEC) and worked as the Chair for the TTMEC from 2021 to 2022.  

She is currently leading a national research project with this consortium that explores characteristics of support within new graduate programmes within Australia and has led another national research project that focused on midwives’ experiences during COVID-19. In collaboration with other researchers, she has published 26 peer-reviewed journal articles over the past five years in areas of complementary therapies, midwifery education, factors affecting birth practices, gender-based violence and women’s health. Virginia is currently supervising five higher degree research students as a primary supervisor and co-supervising two students. 

Moira the Dean of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Sciences at CQUniversity Australia. She is an experienced academic, manager, midwife, and nurse.  Moira commenced in academia in 1996 as the Head of Midwifery, University of Wollongong. She was actively involved in the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) as an elected member of the ACM NSW Branch 1996 to 2012.  Moira has been involved in numerous committees, councils, and boards, including the NSW Nursing and Midwifery Council from 2011 to 2015. Moira represents the CDNM on the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) Strategic Accreditation Advisory Committee (SAAC). She is also currently a member of the Queensland Nursing and Midwifery Executive Council.   Moira is a Fellow of the Australian College of Midwives, and an Associate Editor for the Women and Birth Journal.

Moira’s teaching within the tertiary sector was recognised nationally in 2006, when she received a National Carrick Citation for curriculum development, for the Master of Science (Midwifery) course, at the University of Wollongong for her promotion of evidence-based practice, research and enhance student-practitioner interaction. This was awarded by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Ltd (now Australian Learning & Teaching Council). 

Moira’s research interests are Curriculum Development, Midwifery Education, Midwifery Practice, Pregnancy and Nutrition, Incorporating Cultural Sensitivity into Health Care Practice.