From humble beginnings to the launch of a dedicated website

Reflecting on the origins of the East of England Midwifery Research Network

The Midwifery Research Network began life as a small group of midwives initially at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and University of East Anglia, who came together to discuss creating a community of practice to promote midwifery research and support colleagues to develop their research interests. Gradually expanding to include the other Norfolk trusts, with the launch of the Chief Midwife’s strategic vision for Research in February 2023, the group brought together a wider group of midwives from across the region, holding an event alongside the national launch. At this event we first had contact with clinical and academic colleagues further afield in Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. The East of England Midwifery Research Network was born! 

Since then, the network, supported by an organising group of seven midwives from two NHS trusts and two universities across the region, has been busily formulating a mission statement and aims, and planning how best to achieve our vision of strengthening midwifery research in the East of England. Our aims are:

1. Raising awareness: activity to raise the profile of midwifery research in the East of England    
2. Fostering a research community: through network actions growing connections  
3. Collaboration: with one another and service users, engaging with under-represented groups, sharing expertise and opportunities
4. Education: across clinical and academic settings  
5. Building strategic capacity and capability: via engagement with key stakeholders and funders   

In the early days there were many conversations about a website where we could share our work and enable members to see who else was working in the midwifery research space across the region. Thanks to being awarded impact funding from University of East Anglia, we have been able to build this website! We are delighted to finally have a dedicated space where people can learn about the work of network members and connect with one another. As we plan our first official year’s calendar of events, we are excited about what the future holds for our network!