King’s College London Marks International Day of the Midwife 2024 with Celebrations
International Day of the Midwife 2024 is a day to celebrate the work and impact that midwives do every day to improve the health and status of women. To celebrate, we’re highlighting the work that is being done by midwives and researchers in midwifery in the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care.
In a piece for The Conversation, Dr Gemma McKenzie reflects on the lived experience of birthing parents pursuing freebirthing, antenatal care in the UK and the risk of obstetric violence.
She talks through some of her own research findings as to why people choose to freebirth, meaning that they intentionally choose to give birth without doctors or midwives present.
Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) is an initiative designed to give thousands of young children across the most deprived areas of Lambeth a better start to life.
King’s lecturer and PhD student Zahra Khan has been working with LEAP to evaluate the impact of a community midwifery programme centred on continuity of care and reducing health inequalities.
The Midwifery & Maternal Health Research Group is developing a programme of high-quality research to foster improvements to the delivery, outcomes and experiences of maternity care services.
Staff work within the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, in close collaboration with the Life Course Sciences Women & Children’s Health Department. We are also forging research networks and collaborations with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience and Philosophy & Medicine. Additionally, the team bring their existing wider networks, service-user and clinician partnerships and collaborations that will develop and enhance the research profile.
Dr Billie Lever Taylor is a Clinical Psychologist Lecturer in the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care. She will soon start an NIHR Fellowship which focuses on perinatal mental health. We took 5 minutes with Billie to learn more about her career and life outside of academia.