Speakers

Dr. Melanie Jackson

Melanie has a PhD in Midwifery – Birth Outside the System: Wanting the Best and Safest. She has various publications in academic journals. Mel has worked in multiple research roles and lectured at Western Sydney University.

Since 2009, Mel has been a Privately Practising Midwife, providing homebirths in the Blue Mountains. She has mentored midwives into private practice in every state and territory across Australia and supports rebellious midwives around the world through The Assembly of Rebellious Midwives and The Convergence of Rebellious Midwives.

Mavis Kirkham

Mavis Kirkham is a founding member of ARM and advisor to the Steering Group. She is Emeritus Professor of Midwifery at Sheffield Hallam University, with over 40 years as a midwife researcher and clinical midwife. Her books include Informed Choice in Maternity Care, The Midwife/Mother Relationship, Birth Centres: A social model of maternity care and most recently Freebirth Stories (co-edited with Nadine Edwards, 2023). Her central professional concern is continuity of midwifery care and its enabling effects on mothers, families, and midwives.

Marianne Scruggs

Marianne Scruggs is a co-founder of ARM. Originally from the United States, she moved to the UK in 1974 after becoming involved in reproductive rights and feminism through the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective. She trained as a direct-entry midwife in Birmingham, and in 1976, together with fellow student Judy Pruss Rogers, formed what would become the Association of Radical Midwives, initially a study and support group of student midwives teaching themselves skills and dreaming of practising “on our own responsibility.” ARM went on to publish The Vision in 1986, the first proposal for significant reform of UK maternity services, which helped pave the way for the government’s Changing Childbirth report in 1993. Marianne’s own vision developed into MIDIRS (Midwives Information and Resource Service), the first centralised maternity research database for midwives, which she founded and directed from 1986. MIDIRS is now part of the Royal College of Midwives. She holds an MSc in Medical Demography and Population Studies and now lives in Seattle.

Nicky Leap

Professor Nicky Leap is a midwife, educator and researcher with over 40 years’ experience in the UK and Australia. A women’s health activist since the 1970s, she was among the first group of self-employed midwives to contract into the NHS, practising in South East London. After moving to Australia in 1997, she became Professor of Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney, where she helped develop national midwifery education standards and NSW’s first publicly funded homebirth programme. She is co-author of The Midwife’s Tale and Supporting Women for Labour and Birth: A Thoughtful Guide.

Prof. Soo Downe

Leah Hazard

“As a proud member of my profession, I’m passionate about bringing midwifery and reproductive health into the public eye. As a firm believer that midwives lay the foundation for lifelong wellness, I’m committed to providing evidence-based information in a way that’s accessible, nuanced, relatable and relevant to our times. “

Amifa Kebe-Kamara

Lola Ornato

Lola Ornato has been a midwife for over 20 years. During this time she has worked in all areas of maternity care gaining experience in both high risk and low risk care. Her particular interest lies in supporting physiological birth and antenatal education. She has spent most of her career working in birth centres and antenatal education. She is currently working as a lecturer at a London University and is leading a decolonisation group with her colleagues in an effort to provide students with the education and tools to challenge racism in practice and improve outcomes for black and brown women/birthing people and their families. She is also studying for a master’s degree in global maternal health and learning skills to implement change on a bigger scale. She has recently returned from a trip to her native country Nigeria where she enjoyed observing midwifery practice and traditions. She lives in London with her husband, 3 children and 1 crazy dog.

Kemi Johnson

Amy Williams

Amy Williams is a poet, spoken word artist and mother based in Liverpool. Her viral poem 6 to 8 Weeks amassed over 3 million views across social media, and her work has been featured on BBC Sounds and shared by perinatal mental health charities including PANDAs. Amy is an advocate for making spoken word and the arts more accessible to parents and carers. At the conference, she will be gathering reflections from attendees on being a midwife throughout the day and weaving them into a live poem to be shared at the event.

Elisabeth Ubbe

Elisabeth Ubbe is a Swedish award-winning photojournalist and former registered nurse midwife. Her work focuses on women’s issues, equality, social justice and sustainable development. Following a long career in midwifery, she graduated from Nordens Fotoskola in 2016 and was selected for the Eddie Adams Workshop. Her projects include The Invisible Breasts, an exhibition and book about breastfeeding, and documentary work on female genital mutilation, child marriage, and the refugee crisis. At the conference, Elisabeth presents The Power of Love, an exhibition of images of women giving birth on their own terms, supported by family and midwives and surrounded by love, accompanied by the women’s own accounts of their experiences and the impact of their births.

Birthrights

Fund Future Midwives

Fund Future Midwives UK is a grassroots campaign advocating for fair funding, sustainable training, and secure employment pathways for student midwives across the United Kingdom. Founded by student midwives and supporters of maternity services, the campaign highlights the financial and structural barriers that threaten the future of the midwifery workforce. ARM has been supporting FFMUK since its inception and welcomes future collaborative efforts.

AIMS

AIMS (Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services) was founded in 1960. AIMS has campaigned tirelessly for improvements to the UK’s maternity services, as well as supporting women and families directly through their helpline, books, journal and website resources. ARM worked alongside AIMS and Birthrights to co-write a joint open letter responding to the Cahill Prevention of Future Deaths Report, calling for homebirth services to be resourced safely and not dismantled.