Catherine Cannon, Director, Centre for Nursing & Midwifery Education, Donegal
Catherine Cannon is the Director of the Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Education (CNME) in Donegal since 2009. She joined the Donegal CNME Team in 2004 as a Specialist Co-Ordinator. She is a RGN, RM and RNT. She holds an MSc, BSc (Hons) and Post Graduate Diploma in Education and Coaching. Catherine has contributed to the design and development of a number of National CPD programmes including: Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation and Venepuncture Blended Learning Programme, National Community Oncology Nursing Education Programme and Pronouncement of Expected Death. Catherine has gained a broad range of clinical and managerial experience in her extensive nursing and midwifery career working in Ireland England and the Middle East. Prior to taking up post in CNME she worked as ADON in Infection Prevention & Control for over 10 years which instilled a keen interest in education and Continuous Professional Development (CPD). She is continually promoting the importance of CPD and lifelong learning to support the development of new and ongoing competencies for nurses and midwives to promote the delivery of ongoing safe evidenced based person-centred care.

Meadhbh Glavey, Midwife, Mayo University Hospital
Meadhbh is a newly qualified midwife having graduated from NUIG, class of 2020. Once qualified, Meadhbh decided to move back home to the lovely Mayo and began working in MUH as a staff midwife on the Maternity Ward. It was a lifetime personal goal for Meadhbh to study midwifery and NUIG provided just the springboard for her drive, ambition and passion to flourish. She has thoroughly enjoyed her journey practising midwifery so far. With every day being a learning day, Meadhbh is delighted to now be working alongside Anne Fallon, midwifery lecturer in NUIG. They are in the process of publishing an article based on Meadhbh’s literature review topic ‘Supporting women with diabetes to breastfeed: use of antenatal breastmilk expression’. She is looking forward to sharing a snippet of it with you all today.

Claire Larkin, CMM2 Mayo University Hospital
Claire has been in Midwifery since 2007, she has worked in University Hospital Galway, the National Maternity Hospital and Mayo University Hospital. Claire is in private practice since 2017. She is very passionate about listening to women’s wishes & assisting her to reach her full potential with delivery & feeding. Claire would love to see breastfeeding clinics antenatally & postnatally in the future.

Andrea McGrail, Director of Midwifery, Mayo University Hospital
Andrea trained in the UK and moved back to Ireland in 1996, Andrea has worked in MUH since 1996, she commenced as a Staff Nurse / Midwife, since 1998 she has held several leadership roles in MUH CNM Outpatient services, Then ADONM for Women’s Health and Paediatrics, I/DONM for MUH and is currently DOM with responsibility for Maternity services, Gynaecology and Paediatric services both scheduled and unscheduled.

Jennifer Duggan, Registered Advanced Midwife Practitioner (RAMP) University Hospital Galway
Jennifer completed General Nurse training (Diploma in Nursing) in Sligo General Hospital followed by a Bachelor of Nursing studies at NUI Galway. In 2003, she obtained a Higher Diploma in Midwifery studies and qualified as a Midwife. She was promoted to CMM2 and gained experience across the Maternity Unit. As candidate AMP she completed a Masters in Advanced Practice with Prescribing; while expanding the midwifery led antenatal clinics, Early Transfer Home service by becoming fully community based. She is also trained as an IBCLC and has completed the High dependency in Maternity care course.
As an AMP in Midwifery Care she has a strong passion for empowering and supporting women through their pregnancy and birth choices, with a particular interest in Birth After Caesarean Section. She is implementing the Supported care pathway at UHG.

Helen Murphy, Director Of Midwifery, Galway University Hospital
Helen has been Director of Midwifery of midwifery in University Hospital Galway since 2017.
Helen qualified as a General Nurse at the Meath Hospital Dublin in 1995, she relocated to Belfast where she completed her midwifery training and she qualified as a Midwife in 2000 from Queens University Belfast.
Helen spent 17 years of her career working in various London Hospitals, working in hospital, community, and various specialist Midwifery roles. Prior to leaving London Helen was the inpatient Midwifery Manager in Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Throughout her career she has been involved in delivering service improvements and major projects, wherever she has worked.

Angela Dunne, National Lead Midwife National Women and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP)
Angela Dunne RM, RGN, BA, MSc Healthcare Management.
Angela is the National Lead Midwife National Women and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP)
Angela has had a distinguished career in midwifery and nursing spanning over thirty years. She has held several key positions in the Irish health service.
The breadth and depth of her profession experience has provided her with a keen insight into the challenges facing midwifery and nursing leaders, as well as midwifery’s pivotal role and contribution within the health service. Angela current role as lead midwife for the NWIHP is to strategically lead and support the development of the profession of midwifery and nursing in terms of the National Maternity Strategy 2016-2026 ‘Creating a Better Future’ implementation and other developments

Siobhan Canny, Saolta Group Director of Midwifery
Siobhan Canny has practiced as a Midwife since 2001 and in this time has worked in a number of senior positions in both clinical and managerial roles in Ireland and England. She is currently employed by the Health Service Executive (HSE), and the Saolta Hospital Group as the Group Director of Midwifery providing professional oversight and clinical leadership to the five units is Saolta who provide Maternity, Gynaecology and Infant services. Siobhan has worked on a number of National initiatives for the HSE and the National Women’s and Infants Health programme (NWIHP). She has served as a Midwifery advisor on the Midwifery committee in the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, has worked as a midwifery assessor for MBRRACE and CEMACH Ireland (The Confidential enquiry in to maternal and child health) since 2010 and is a member of the Saolta Hospital Group executive team. Her special interest is in intrapartum care Midwifery leadership and maternal morbidity.
Her professional qualifications include a Certificate in General Nursing (R.M), Higher Diploma in Midwifery from University of Limerick (R.M), Bachelor Degree in Midwifery (BMS) from Trinity College Dublin and a Master’s degree in Leadership and Management from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (MSc) .

Evelyn Smith, Director of Midwifery, Letterkenny University Hospital
Bio unavailable at time of production

Amanda McFadden, Advanced Midwife Practitioner Candidate, Letterkenny University Hospital
Amanda is a candidate Advanced Midwife Practitioner in supported care in the maternity department of Letterkenny University Hospital. She has over 10 years’ experience in all areas of midwifery care. She qualified as a midwife from NUIG. She has recently started this new career path in Jan 2020 and is excited at what the future will bring!

Juliana Henry, Director of Midwifery, Sligo University Hospital
Juliana Henry, RGN, RM, RNT, PG Dip Midwifery, MSc Midwifery , PDip CHSE, BSc Management
Juliana is Director of Midwifery in Sligo University Hospital. She trained as a general nurse in Sligo General Hospital from 1993 to 1996. She trained as a midwife in the Rotunda Hospital Dublin from 1998 to 2000. She returned to Sligo in 2003 as a staff midwife and has held a variety of Nursing and Midwifery Management Roles since 2006. She commenced her current role as Director of Midwifery in 2016. Juliana has just completed a Diploma in Quality Improvement and Leadership from the RCPI Dublin. Her Special interests are Midwifery led care, patient safety and maternal Morbidity.

Roisin Lennon, AMP Sligo University Hospital
Roisin is a Midwife, nurse and mother. Currently working in Sligo as a Registered Advanced Midwife Practitioner since 2017 but a member of the midwifery team here since 2003. Roisin trained and worked in Scotland as a midwife for many years. Roisin feels privileged to be a midwife and part of so many families pregnancy journey. She has a special interest in aromatherapy and reflexology and postdates pregnancy treatments, she is also a IBCLC (lactation consultant). Roisin has been involved in many audits and research projects and has had several articles published. She is currently learning Spanish to keep the brain active with the hope of being able to travel again and put the lessons to good use!

Deirdre Naughton, Director of Midwifery, Portiuncula University Hospital
Deirdre is Director of Midwifery in Portiuncula University hospital since July 2019. Deirdre gained invaluable experience working in Practice development, clinical skills, as a clinical Placement coordinator and most importantly, as a midwife. Deirdre is an adjunct lecturer in NUIG, has recently completed the Advanced Diploma in Medical law and is a member of the PPC in NMBI.
Portiuncula maternity unit focuses on quality and safety in practice. In conjunction with the MDT, a strong culture for supporting normality in pregnancy and labour is evolving, coupled with a questioning of practice at local level.

Emma McArt, CMM2, Bereavement and Loss, Portinuncula University Hospital
Emma obtained her nursing degree from Buckinghamshire University in 2001. Post registration she gained valuable experience as a registered general nurse in Charring Cross Hospital London in a coronary care/high dependency unit. In 2003 she returned to Ireland and completed a higher diploma in midwifery with NUIG. She has worked in various areas of nursing and midwifery and during her experience developed a passion for bereavement care. Emma was appointed as the Clinical Midwife Manager 2 in Bereavement and Loss in 2018. She works with the multidisciplinary team in, planning and delivering individualised, evidence based care to women, their partners and families, who experience perinatal bereavement. Emma has completed a higher diploma in loss and bereavement with the RCSI.

Joanne O’Hare, RGN, RM, RNT, BSc Professional Studies in Midwifery, MSc(Education), Nurse Tutor CNME Donegal
Joanne qualified as a General Nurse from the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow in 1992 and as a Midwife from Royal Maternity Hospital in Belfast in 1994. Having enjoyed many years working as a midwife in Belfast, London and Letterkenny Joanne followed her passion for Midwifery Education and completed a Masters in Health Sciences (Nursing/ Midwifery Education) from NUI Galway in 2009. From 2010-2012 Joanne worked as Lecturer in Midwifery in University College Dublin, returning to work as a Midwife in Letterkenny in 2012. In 2019 Joanne took up position as Midwifery Tutor in the Centre for Nursing & Midwifery Education in Donegal and is working closely will the Maternity Services team in Letterkenny to provide ongoing education for Midwives.

Professor Dara Byrne, MD MCh CHSEA FRCSI
Professor Byrne is the Professor of Simulation Education in Healthcare at NUI Galway and the Director of Simulation for the Saolta University Healthcare Group. She is the Director of Simulation at the Irish Centre for Applied Patient Safety and Simulation (ICAPSS), a collaboration between academics and clinicians with a focus on patient safety education and research.
The ICAPSS run over 150 different simulation programmes across all healthcare disciplines and have over 100 publications in the area of simulation, patient safety and quality of care. She is Co-Director of the MSc. in Healthcare Simulation and Patient Safety at NUI Galway, which delivers education to over 75 healthcare professionals from around the world each year. Professor Byrne’s research interests are in patient safety and preparedness for clinical practice, innovation in healthcare and competency based education

Soo Downe, BA(Hons), RM, MSc, PhD, OBE, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Soo spent 15 years working as a clinical and research midwife. In 2001 she joined UCLan where she is now the Professor of Midwifery Studies. Her main research focus is the nature of, and cultures around, normal birth. She has been a member of the Technical Working Group of the World Health Organization antenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, and optimising caesarean section guidelines. She has published over 160 peer reviewed papers, and has undertaken research using a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods. She is a member of the NHS England Better Births national Stakeholder group. She was the founder of the International Normal Birth Research Conference Series.

Sheena Byrom , OBE, RM, MA, HFRCM, Ed D honoris causa, D.Univ.
Sheena Byrom is a practising midwife of 40 years, having worked in the NHS for most of that time. Sheena was one of the UK’s first consultant midwives, and as head of midwifery successfully helped to lead the development of three birth centres in East Lancashire. As well as being an international speaker, Sheena provides consultancy services to both NHS Trusts and to organisations globally; helping them to support normal, physiological childbirth. With her midwife daughter Anna is the proud joint owner of The Practising Midwife journal, and an exciting learning online platform All4Materity.com.
Sheena’s midwifery memoirs, Catching Babies, is a Sunday Times bestseller, and her seminal book, The Roar Behind the Silence: why kindness, compassion and respect matter in maternity care jointly edited with Soo Downe, is being used as a resource to improve maternity care throughout the world. Sheena and Soo have recently edited their second book, ‘Squaring the Circle: researching normal childbirth in a technological world’ in 2019.
Sheena was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to midwifery and was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Midwives in 2015. In 2016 and 2018, Sheena received Honorary Doctorates from Bournemouth University and the University of Central Lancashire, and in 2017 she was made a Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University. Her personal and midwifery related website is sheenabyrom.com.
Sheena is committed to the humanisation of childbirth, to maximising normal physiological birth processes, and for all women to experience a positive birth. The global onslaught of medical technology as a means to improve safety continues to influence childbearing women’s physiology and autonomy, and her work to reverse the trend is ongoing.
Blog/website: sheenabyrom.com

Margaret Quigley, National Lead for Midwifery in the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director (ONMSD) in the HSE
Margaret Quigley is the National Lead for Midwifery in the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director (ONMSD) in the HSE. Her role is to provide midwifery expert leadership, guidance and support to the ONMSD Director and work collaboratively with the Director of Midwifery in the National Women and Infants Health Programme to assist in the implementation of the National Maternity Strategy (2016). Margaret sits on various national committees representing midwifery and examples of current national projects that she is leading out on include; development of a Self-assessment Framework for Perinatal Mental Health Midwives CMM2s and, a national review of Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) training. Margaret has been a midwife for over 34 years in various clinical, management, operational, education and leadership roles both in the UK and in Ireland. Her most recent post was as Director of Midwifery in UL Hospitals Group up until October 2019 where she led out on many women centred initiatives. Margaret has an MSc in Healthcare Management, a post-registration BSc (Honours) Degree in Midwifery Studies and is a graduate of the Timoney Leadership Institute –Advanced Leadership Programme (2019). She is also an Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor with University of Limerick.

Michelle Moriarty, Midwife, Sligo University Hospital
Michelle Moriarty trained as a midwife in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital linked to Dundalk IT. Qualified 10 Yrs and currently working in Sligo University Hospital. Michelle has a great interest in Mindful self-care and recently completed a Masters in Quality and Safety in Healthcare, her thesis was based on the question ‘can mindfulness enhance midwives wellbeing in maternity setting in Ireland’