Exploring the educational needs of staff in caring for those birthing in the trans community
09:20 - 09:55
Individuals who do not identify as women may be challenged in a variety of ways throughout their childbearing journeys. For some trans individuals, childbearing can be very difficult, with the associated risk of worsening gender dysphoria and a profound sense of isolation. There is a lack of evidence of the quality of perinatal care for trans people. However, this presentation will explore the attitudes, knowledge, confidence, and experiences of maternity staff in relation to the birthing trans community and share their concerns and training needs in this context.
Teaching Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) to help midwives cope with traumatic clinical incidents
10:00 - 10:35
This talk and accompanying paper considers use of Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) to help midwives cope with traumatic clinical incidents. In this context, CMT is taught to cultivate compassion. The need to build midwives’ resilience is recognized by the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), who advocate that mental health coping strategies be embedded into midwifery curriculum. In this respect, CMT can be used as a resilience building method designed to help the midwife respond to self-criticism and threat-based emotions with compassion. The underpinnings of CMT involves understanding that people can develop cognitive biases or unhelpful thinking patterns co-driven by an interplay between genetics and the environment. Within this paper, the underpinning theory of CMT is outlined and how it can be used to balance the psychological threat, drive, and soothing systems. Overall, teaching CMT has potential to improve professional quality of life, reduce midwives’ sickness rates, and potential attrition from the profession.
A Dietitian’s Overview of Infant Formula Milks for Use From Birth Onwards
12:05 - 13:05
Breast milk provides the optimal nutrition for infants. However, when infant formula is used, either in conjunction or in place of breast milk, it is important that families are supported in feeding their baby. The current market has an ever increasing range of available infant formulas. This presentation offers an overview of the types of formula milks that parents can buy and which are marketed as suitable from birth. The range of formula milks will be examined rather than individual brands, with the aim of increasing understanding so that parental questions can be answered and practical support offered effectively. This includes: hungry baby, organic, plant-based, goats’ milk, A2 and first formulas. There will also be an overview of formula used for special medical purposes such as comfort, anti-reflux and lactose free formulas.
How to better support mothers with post-traumatic stress disorder
09:20 - 09:55
In the UK, about 30,000 women a year experience postnatal PTSD, but the condition is under-diagnosed, or sometimes misdiagnosed as PND. There are others who feel traumatised by birth, but don’t meet the criteria for a formal PTSD diagnosis.
Women with debilitating symptoms such as flashbacks and hyper-vigilance are often told by friends and family, and sometimes by health professionals, that they need to put the birth behind them or to be grateful for a healthy baby. Yet untreated, PTSD can last for many years.
Fortunately, good postnatal care, the use of a formal screening tool, peer support and trauma-based therapeutic treatments can all play a part in helping women recover. For many women, having their trauma recognised and acknowledged is also important to the recovery process.
Drawing on women’s own words and experiences, the talk will focus on the most effective methods of supporting mothers with postnatal PTSD.
Obesity Matters: Targeted education addressing consultation and communication skills may strengthen midwifery practice when caring for obese pregnant women. Findings from a qualitative interview study.
12:10 - 12:40
This session will discuss the above mentioned study and provide background to its origins. It will summarise some of the risks that the obese pregnant woman and their unborn babies face. A brief outline of the research methodology will be given. The three key themes that emerged will then be introduced: ‘situational context of practice’, ‘constructing partnerships with women’, ‘midwife as a public health agent’. However, the focus of the presentation will be concerned with discussing midwives’ communication skills, how they develop and how they are learned, discussing the institutional facilitators and barriers that professionals make use of in their everyday work.
The session will conclude with ideas for future research in this area aimed at strengthening midwifery practice and facilitating professionals to raise ‘sensitive’ topics in a structured, confident but non-threatening manner.
Dr Sally Pezaro is an academic midwife, research associate and hearings panellist for the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Investigating Committee. Sally has clinical midwifery experience working in the United Kingdom, the Gambia and Ethiopia. Dr Pezaro has developed a passion for promoting the wellbeing of midwives and excellence in care, where her research remains challenge led.
Dr Pezaro is also a proud steering group member of the Mary Seacole Awards programme. This programme is funded by Health Education England and delivered in association with the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Nursing, Unison and Unite with support from NHS Employers.
In 2019, Dr Pezaro was honoured with a first prize award from the Royal Society of Medicine in 'Leading and Inspiring Excellence in Maternity Care' and was also runner-up for the British Journal of Midwifery's 'Midwife of the Year' 2019. Follow Sally on Twitter (@SallyPezaro).
Dr Sally Pezaro
Midwife and Lecturer
Coventry University
Dr Sally Pezaro is an academic midwife, research associate and hearings panellist for the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Investigating Committee. Sally has clinical midwifery experience working in the United Kingdom, the Gambia and Ethiopia. Dr Pezaro has developed a passion for promoting the wellbeing of midwives and excellence in care, where her research remains challenge led.
Dr Pezaro is also a proud steering group member of the Mary Seacole Awards programme. This programme is funded by Health Education England and delivered in association with the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Nursing, Unison and Unite with support from NHS Employers.
In 2019, Dr Pezaro was honoured with a first prize award from the Royal Society of Medicine in 'Leading and Inspiring Excellence in Maternity Care' and was also runner-up for the British Journal of Midwifery's 'Midwife of the Year' 2019. Follow Sally on Twitter (@SallyPezaro).
Caroline J Hollins Martin
Professor of Maternal Health
Edinburgh Napier University
Prof Caroline J Hollins Martin (PhD MPhil BSc RM RGN MBPsS Senior Fellow HEA) works in the area of women’s health, with a specific focus upon psychological issues surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. Caroline’s background has encompassed a career in women’s reproductive health that spans 35 years. The first 11 years were spent working as a fulltime clinical midwife at Ayrshire Central Hospital (Irvine), which is now known as the Ayrshire Maternity Unit (Kilmarnock) and is based in the west of Scotland (UK). The other 24 years of Caroline’s working life has been spent teaching and researching women’s reproductive health within universities. To date, she has worked at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), University of York, University of Manchester, Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Salford, and Edinburgh Napier University (5 years).
Caroline is a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Registered Midwife and Lecturer/Practice Educator. She is also a graduate and post-graduate in psychology and Member of the British Psychological Society (MBPsS). Caroline’s research mainly focuses upon psychology that relates to women’s reproductive health, with earlier work relating to hierarchies within organisations and their effects upon decision-making and providing choice and control to childbearing women. More recently, Caroline’s focus has shifted to developing useful tools for maternal health practitioners to use in clinical practice. For example, the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R) (bss-r.co.uk) which has been validated to assess mothers’ perceptions of their birth experience. Other research interests lie in perinatal bereavement, Compassionate Mindfulness Therapy (CMT), PTSD and infection control.
To date, Caroline has published 105 peer-reviewed papers, 4 books, 12 book chapters, 1 sector report, and 100+ conference presentations. Caroline’s publication record is available at Worktribe: https://www.napier.ac.uk/people/caroline-hollinsmartin
Dr Elaine Beaumont
Lecturer and Psychotherapist
University of Salford
Gavin Cullen
Lecturer
Edinburgh Napier University
Caroline J Hollins Martin
Professor of Maternal Health
Edinburgh Napier University
Prof Caroline J Hollins Martin (PhD MPhil BSc RM RGN MBPsS Senior Fellow HEA) works in the area of women’s health, with a specific focus upon psychological issues surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. Caroline’s background has encompassed a career in women’s reproductive health that spans 35 years. The first 11 years were spent working as a fulltime clinical midwife at Ayrshire Central Hospital (Irvine), which is now known as the Ayrshire Maternity Unit (Kilmarnock) and is based in the west of Scotland (UK). The other 24 years of Caroline’s working life has been spent teaching and researching women’s reproductive health within universities. To date, she has worked at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), University of York, University of Manchester, Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Salford, and Edinburgh Napier University (5 years).
Caroline is a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Registered Midwife and Lecturer/Practice Educator. She is also a graduate and post-graduate in psychology and Member of the British Psychological Society (MBPsS). Caroline’s research mainly focuses upon psychology that relates to women’s reproductive health, with earlier work relating to hierarchies within organisations and their effects upon decision-making and providing choice and control to childbearing women. More recently, Caroline’s focus has shifted to developing useful tools for maternal health practitioners to use in clinical practice. For example, the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R) (bss-r.co.uk) which has been validated to assess mothers’ perceptions of their birth experience. Other research interests lie in perinatal bereavement, Compassionate Mindfulness Therapy (CMT), PTSD and infection control.
To date, Caroline has published 105 peer-reviewed papers, 4 books, 12 book chapters, 1 sector report, and 100+ conference presentations. Caroline’s publication record is available at Worktribe: https://www.napier.ac.uk/people/caroline-hollinsmartin
Dr Elaine Beaumont
Lecturer and Psychotherapist
University of Salford
Gavin Cullen
Lecturer
Edinburgh Napier University
Louise Calland
Paediatric Dietitian
Louise Calland is a Registered Dietitian with 30 years’ experience. She has worked as a Specialist Paediatric Dietitian for 18 years. She has worked in all areas of community dietetics and has a particular interest in infant feeding and food allergy, with specific experience in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and Cows’ Milk Allergy.
Louise Calland
Paediatric Dietitian
Louise Calland is a Registered Dietitian with 30 years’ experience. She has worked as a Specialist Paediatric Dietitian for 18 years. She has worked in all areas of community dietetics and has a particular interest in infant feeding and food allergy, with specific experience in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and Cows’ Milk Allergy.
Dr. Kim Thomas
CEO
Birth Trauma Association
Kim Thomas is CEO of the Birth Trauma Association, a small national charity that supports women experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth – a condition affecting about 30,000 women a year in the UK. Her role is part-time, and she also works as a freelance journalist, specialising in health care and education.
In 2013, she published Birth Trauma: A guide for you, your friends and family to coping with post-traumatic stress disorder following birth, which went into a second edition in 2020. She is currently working on a book called Postnatal PTSD: a Guide for Health Professionals.
Kim also has a PhD in the sociology of education, and her thesis has been published by Open University Press.
Twitter: @BirthTrauma
Dr. Kim Thomas
CEO
Birth Trauma Association
Kim Thomas is CEO of the Birth Trauma Association, a small national charity that supports women experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth – a condition affecting about 30,000 women a year in the UK. Her role is part-time, and she also works as a freelance journalist, specialising in health care and education.
In 2013, she published Birth Trauma: A guide for you, your friends and family to coping with post-traumatic stress disorder following birth, which went into a second edition in 2020. She is currently working on a book called Postnatal PTSD: a Guide for Health Professionals.
Kim also has a PhD in the sociology of education, and her thesis has been published by Open University Press.
Twitter: @BirthTrauma
Dr Jacque Gerrard MBE
Midwife Consultant
Jacque Gerrard is the former Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Director for England now working freelance in a midwife consultancy capacity. She led on the RCM’s professional agenda and the Maternity Transformation Programme at RCM. Jacque has 40 years of nursing and midwifery experience as a clinician, manager and professional leader. Jacque is a patron of Mummy’s Star, a charity supporting pregnancy in cancer, and she is the Patron of the Sheffield charity Forging Families. She is an ambassador for the Mariposa Trust “Saying Goodbye” and a Trustee for the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust. She is also a member of the BJM editorial board.
Jacque is a midwife and the former Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Director for England (2008-2018). She led on the RCM’s professional midwifery agenda. Jacque has found a new interest in physical activity. In May 2019, she qualified as a YMCA level 2 fitness instructor at Leeds Becket university. Jacque was appointed as a Physical Activity Champion in February 2020 by Public Health England.
Jacque is an experienced midwife with over 38 years as a clinician, manager, head of midwifery and a national midwifery leader. She is on the board for the British Journal of Midwifery and is also involved in the following charities:
• Mummy’s Star Patron (Cancer in pregnancy)
• Beyond Bea baby loss charity Patron
• An ambassador for Saying Goodbye baby loss charity.
• Chair of Iolanthe Midwifery Trust which supports students and midwives to deliver local maternity projects.
• Active Pregnancy Foundation Scientific Advisory Board member
Awards and honours
MBE Queens birthday honours 2019 for services to women and midwifery
Doctor of the University of Bradford 2017
British Journal of Midwifery Leadership award 2016
Dr Jacque Gerrard MBE
Midwife Consultant
Jacque Gerrard is the former Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Director for England now working freelance in a midwife consultancy capacity. She led on the RCM’s professional agenda and the Maternity Transformation Programme at RCM. Jacque has 40 years of nursing and midwifery experience as a clinician, manager and professional leader. Jacque is a patron of Mummy’s Star, a charity supporting pregnancy in cancer, and she is the Patron of the Sheffield charity Forging Families. She is an ambassador for the Mariposa Trust “Saying Goodbye” and a Trustee for the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust. She is also a member of the BJM editorial board.
Jacque is a midwife and the former Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Director for England (2008-2018). She led on the RCM’s professional midwifery agenda. Jacque has found a new interest in physical activity. In May 2019, she qualified as a YMCA level 2 fitness instructor at Leeds Becket university. Jacque was appointed as a Physical Activity Champion in February 2020 by Public Health England.
Jacque is an experienced midwife with over 38 years as a clinician, manager, head of midwifery and a national midwifery leader. She is on the board for the British Journal of Midwifery and is also involved in the following charities:
• Mummy’s Star Patron (Cancer in pregnancy)
• Beyond Bea baby loss charity Patron
• An ambassador for Saying Goodbye baby loss charity.
• Chair of Iolanthe Midwifery Trust which supports students and midwives to deliver local maternity projects.
• Active Pregnancy Foundation Scientific Advisory Board member
Awards and honours
MBE Queens birthday honours 2019 for services to women and midwifery
Doctor of the University of Bradford 2017
British Journal of Midwifery Leadership award 2016
Dr Yvonne Greig
Midwifery Lecturer
Edinburgh Napier University
Yvonne has been a midwife for 30 years, practicing clinically in various contexts, as a senior research midwife and in the higher education sector as a lecturer. During her Doctoral journey she explored midwifery practice and how midwives provide care to women with raised BMI. Yvonne has specific interests pertaining to maternal health, particularly nutrition during pregnancy. She aims to continue developing this area of research and to develop a midwifery consultation model.
Yvonne is a volunteer with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and as part of the Millennium Develop Goals, has facilitated educational programmes for our overseas colleagues in Kenya that has focused upon how to manage obstetric emergencies in a bid to get the maternal mortality rates down globally.
She is now midwifery lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University and loved working with the future of the profession.
Twitter: @GreigYvonne
Dr Yvonne Greig
Midwifery Lecturer
Edinburgh Napier University
Yvonne has been a midwife for 30 years, practicing clinically in various contexts, as a senior research midwife and in the higher education sector as a lecturer. During her Doctoral journey she explored midwifery practice and how midwives provide care to women with raised BMI. Yvonne has specific interests pertaining to maternal health, particularly nutrition during pregnancy. She aims to continue developing this area of research and to develop a midwifery consultation model.
Yvonne is a volunteer with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and as part of the Millennium Develop Goals, has facilitated educational programmes for our overseas colleagues in Kenya that has focused upon how to manage obstetric emergencies in a bid to get the maternal mortality rates down globally.
She is now midwifery lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University and loved working with the future of the profession.
Twitter: @GreigYvonne
