Research Inclusion: Midwives Leveraging their Skills for Diverse Representation in Clinical Research.

March 17^th saw 150 research-active midwives and nurses gather for the NIHR Reproductive Health and Childbirth Research Champions group symposium in Manchester. The East of England Midwifery Research Network was represented by Luisa, Claire, Rebekka, Philippa, Tilly, Karen and Kelda.

Inclusion in research was a theme throughout the day of engaging and informative talks. Sandra Igwe, founder and CEO of the Motherhood Group, gave key messages about elevating the voices and experiences of Black women leading and participating in research.

Sandra talked about the research champions being trained by the Motherhood Group. This chimed with a talk from clinical research midwife Holly Lovell and the peer researchers she is working alongside while undertaking her PhD at King’s. There were strong messages across the day about innovation to reach under-served communities, enabling digital inclusion and how the unique skillset of midwives and nurses in research can influence change and diverse representation. Sandra highlighted the newly launched Blackmums app, creating a digital space for Black mothers to connect.

Tilly co-chaired a session on the importance of commercial research in gynaecology, giving interesting perspectives on current directions. There was lively discussion around challenges in research delivery which need to be addressed to ensure greater attention to gaps in women’s health and midwifery research topics.

The day ended on a high with Luisa winning the ‘inspirational colleague’ award for her work championing research midwifery. Her positive impact on student midwives and scoping work around research midwife capacity were celebrated – so well deserved and we were all very proud!

Tilly on the importance of commercial research in gynaecology

Claire, Kelda, Luisa and Rebekka