On World Refugee Day 2025, Friday 20 June, the new Maternal and Infant Health Equity Research Centre (MIHERC) website was launched. MIHERC is a hub for research, collaboration and action on maternal and infant health equity. MIHERC) is a collaborative effort between Sheffield Hallam University, Bournemouth University and City of Doncaster Council working to reduce health inequalities for mothers and babies. This year’s World Refugee Day’s theme, hashtag Solidarity, reflects MIHERC’s mission to stand with all mothers and babies – especially those facing health and social inequalities or barriers to care.
Tagged / maternity
Pioneering Research to Tackle Maternity Disparities: BU Academics Lead Major NIHR Initiative
This vital initiative aims to make a tangible difference in the lives of mothers and babies by tackling the complex factors that contribute to disparities in maternity care and outcomes.
MIHERC is already actively engaged in shaping the discourse around these critical issues. The team has commenced the organisation and chairing of impactful events, including the upcoming Artificial Intelligence for Maternity and Women’s Health and Wellbeing session at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AIiH 2025). Further details about this exciting session can be found here: https://aiih.cc/maternity-and-women-health-wellbeing/.

The whole team at Bournemouth University 08.01.25
Bournemouth University eHealth paper cited 40 times!
Yesterday, ResearchGate alerted us that the paper ‘Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature’ [1] had reached 40 citations! This paper has four Bournemouth University (BU) authors and one author, Prof. Gary Smith, who was FHSS Visiting Professor at the time of publication. This literature review, published in 2020, sought midwives’ perspectives on women self-monitoring their pregnancy using eHealth and mHealth.
The paper fund that midwives generally held ambivalent views towards the use of eHealth and mHealth technologies in antenatal care. They acknowledged the potential benefits of such technologies, such as their ability to modernise antenatal care and to help women make more informed decisions about their pregnancy. However, midwives were quick to point out the risks and limitations of these, such as the accuracy of conveyed information, and negative impacts on the patient-professional relationship.
This paper will contribute to our recently awarded NIHR funding to tackle inequalities in UK maternal healthcare as part of the NIHR Challenge Call: Maternity Disparities Consortium. Profs Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen from the Centre for Midwifery and Women’s Health, and Prof. Huseyin Dogan and Dr. Deniz Cetinkaya from the Department of Computing and Informatics collaborate in MIHERC (Maternal & Infant Health Equity Research Centre). MIHERC is led by Prof. Hora Soltani at Sheffield Hallam University, and it is a partnership with Bournemouth University, the City of Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub as well as several charities and voluntary organisations. Prof. Dogan has recently been appointed the co-lead for the “Digital, data, monitoring, evaluation and implementation science” work stream of the NIHR Maternity Disparities consortium.

Reference:
- Vickery, M., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Smith, G. B., Way, S., Westwood, G. (2020). Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature. European Journal of Midwifery, 4(Sept.), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/126625
Race Equity Month: Disparities in maternity care
Race Equity Month – Can the UK finally tackle health disparities in maternity care?
Last week Prof. Hora Sultani, who leads the joint bid submitted by Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and Bournemouth University (BU) in reply to the ‘NIHR Challenge: Maternity Inequalities funding call’, wrote an article on the website of the Council of Deans for Health. This piece with the title ‘Race Equity Month – Can the UK finally tackle health disparities in maternity care?‘ can be freely accessed (click here!). One of Prof. Soltani’s key arguments is that it is vital that national policy makers and service providers collaborate with researchers and communities to co-design and provide practical solutions for such important maternity challenges in UK society.

Prof. Soltani was writing on behalf of the UK Network of Professors in Midwifery and Maternal and Newborn Health, an organisation to which both Profs Hundley and van Teijlingen belong.
Reaching 10,000 reads!
Last Sunday ResearchGate informed us that the paper ‘Health facility preparedness of maternal and neonatal health services: a survey in Jumla, Nepal‘ [1] published in the international journal BMC Health Services Research had been read 10,000 times. In this paper, which is in an Open Access journal, Pasang reports on a cross-sectional study conducted in 2019 covering all 31 state health facilities in a district of Nepal to assess the availability of maternal and neonatal health services including appropriate workforce and access to essential medicines. Tests of association between demographic factors and the probability of a facility experiencing a shortage of essential medicine within the last 3 months were also conducted as exploratory procedures. Overall health facilities reported better availability of staff than of drugs. The authors concluded that health facilities in Nepals should be supported to meet required minimal standards such as availability of essential medicines and the provision of emergency ambulance transport for women and newborns. This paper was part of Dr. Pasang Tamang’s Ph.D. project at the University of Huddersfield, which resulted in four other related publications [2-5]. Pasang is currently working as a Lecturer in Public Health in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Greenwich.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

References:
- Tamang, P., Simkhada, P., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E., Khatri, R., Stephenson, J. (2021) Health facility preparedness of maternal and neonatal health services: A survey in Jumla, Nepal, BMC Health Service Research, 21:1023. https://rdcu.be/cyD01
- Tamang, P., Mahato, P., Simkhada P., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) Pregnancy, Childbirth, Breastfeeding and Coronavirus Disease: What is known so far? Journal of Midwifery Association of Nepal (JMAN) 2(1): 96-101.
- Tamang, P., Simkhada, B, Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2023) Quality of care in maternal and neonatal health in Jumla, rural Nepal: Women’s perspective. Fields: Journal of Huddersfield student research, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.5920/fields.1271
- Mahato, P., Tamang, P., Simkhada, B., Wasti, S. P., Devkota, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2022) Reflections on health promotion fieldwork in Nepal: Trials and tribulations. Journal of Health Promotion 10(1): 5–12. https://doi.org/10.3126/jhp.v10i1.50978
- Tamang, P., Mahato, P., Shahi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Amgain, K. (2020) COVID-19 Quarantine: A Key Part of Prevention in Nepal. Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences 3(1):1-14.
BU e-health paper read 4,000 times
Our paper ‘Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature’ [1] reached 4,000 reads on ResearchGate today. Obviously, there is a growing interest in the use of mobile apps as well as the more general application of mHealth and eHealth in the UK and elsewhere.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

Reference:
- Vickery, M., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Smith, G. B., Way, S., Westwood, G. (2020). Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature. European Journal of Midwifery, 4: 1-11. https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/126625
Dr Rachel Arnold on Appreciative Inquiry


References:
- Hodgkiss, D., Quinney, S., Slack, T., Barnett, K., Howells, B. (2024a) Appreciating Health and Care: A practical Appreciative Inquiry resource for the Health and Social Care sector, Forres: Appreciating People; ISBN: 978-1-9160267-6-6
- Hodgkiss, D., Quinney, S., Slack, T., Barnett, K., Howells, B. (2024b) Appreciating Health and Care: AI in practice, Forres: Appreciating People.
Requests to speak to the media are like buses….
Last week for the first time in over a year I received a request for a mass media interview in the UK on our research. On Easter Monday (1 April) I received an email to appear on Sky TV that very evening to speak about migrant workers and kidney health. this seemed to fit in very nicely with our recently completed study on kidney health funded by the charity The Colt Foundation, and our on-going Ensure-Nepal project funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Office.
After a lot of hassle and finally speaking to the TV research assistant over the phone it turned out Sky TV really wanted an expert to talk about poor people in South Asia selling kidney, despite what they had put in the email invitation on their interest in kidney health of migrant worker. In the end it felt like a few hours wasted on my Bank Holiday Monday.
Then to my surprise I received a call on Wednesday from BBC Radio Scotland to speak about what babies can hear in the womb and the importance of singing lullabies. Unfortunately, I had to put that request down as this is really not my area of expertise as Professor of Reproductive Health.
Requests to appear on the media to speak about once research seem to be like buses. As the old saying goes, you wait ages for a bus and then two (or more) come along at once. And in this case, NOT only did two turn up, but they were wrong buses anyway!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)
Midwifery paper read 2,500 times
Today ResearchGate alerted me that our paper ‘Women, Midwives, and a Medical Model of Maternity Care in Switzerland’ [1] has been read 2,500 times. This paper published in the International Journal of Childbirth focuses on the organisation of maternity health care in Switzerland. Switzerland has a costly health care system with high intervention rates within an obstetric-led maternity care model. Evidence has shown that midwifery care is associated with lower cost, higher satisfaction rates among women, and less intervention. However, in this model, midwives are both marginalized and underused.
The article focuses on the distribution of power and knowledge between midwives, women, and the medical profession. The varying power structures that shape the maternity care system in Switzerland are examined, using a case study approach that draws on Foucault’s concepts of the gaze, surveillance, disciplinary power, and the docile body. This article critically analyzes the model of maternity care received by women in Switzerland and how it negatively impacts on both women’s personal and midwives’ professional autonomy while simultaneously driving up costs.
A better understanding of the underlying power structures operating within the maternity care system may facilitate the implementation of more midwifery-led care currently being endorsed by the Swiss Midwifery Association and some government agencies. This could result in reduced cost and lower intervention rates with reduced associated morbidity.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)
Reference:
- Brailey, S., Luyben, A., Firth, L, van Teijlingen, E (2017) Women, midwives & medical model of maternity care in Switzerland, International Journal of Childbirth 7(3): 117-25.
Another CMMPH COVID-19 publication on fathers
Congratulations to Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) Visiting Faculty members Prof. Minesh Khashu and Ms. Jillian Ireland on the acceptance of their paper “COVID-19 restrictions and psychological well-being of fathers with infants admitted to NICU (neonatal intensive care units)—an exploratory cross-sectional study” has been accepted by Acta Paediatrica [1].
These authors, both employed by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, are part of an international team of researchers studying the role of fathers in maternity care. The first author on the paper, Dr. Esther Adama is Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Edith Cowan University in Australia. Previous papers produced by some members of this team were both published in the Journal of Neonatal Nursing [2-3].
Congratulations to my colleagues!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
References:
- Adama E.A., Koliouli F., Provenzi L., Feeley N., van Teijlingen E., Ireland J., Thomson-Salo F., Khashu M and FINESSE Group (2022) COVID-19 restrictions and psychological well-being of fathers with infants admitted to NICU—an exploratory cross-sectional study, Acta Paediatrica (accepted).
- Fisher, D., Khashu, M., Adama, E., Feeley, N., Garfield, C., Ireland, J., Koliouli F., Lindberg, B., Noergaard, B., Provenzi, L., Thomson-Salo, F., van Teijlingen, E. (2018) Fathers in neonatal units: Improving infant health by supporting the baby-father bond & mother-father co-parenting, Journal of Neonatal Nursing 24(6): 306-312 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2018.08.007
- Ireland, J., Khashu, M., Cescutti-Butler, L., van Teijlingen, E., Hewitt-Taylor, J. (2016) Experiences of fathers with babies admitted to neonatal care units: A review of literature, Journal of Neonatal Nursing 22(4): 171–176
Summit of Health & Population Scientists in Nepal 2022


The second presentation will focus of the Nepal Federal Health System Project, our major collaborative project examining the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move to a federal government structure in 2015. This is a joint project led by the University of Sheffield with Bournemouth University, the University of Huddersfield, and two institutions in Nepal: Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences MMIHS) and PHASE Nepal. This interdisciplinary study is funded by the UK Health Systems Research Initiative [Grant ref.
MR/T023554/1].

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternity & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
Nepal research published
Yesterday saw the publication of a new scientific paper on the health care system in Nepal. The latest BU paper ‘Health facility preparedness of maternal and neonatal health services: A survey in Jumla, Nepal’ is a collaboration between academics at the University of Huddersfield, Liverpool John Moores University and the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) at Bournemouth University [1]. This is the third paper led by Pasang Tamang, who is currently a PhD student at the University of Huddersfield [2-3].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References
- Tamang, P., Simkhada, P., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E., Khatri, R., Stephenson, J., (2021) Health facility preparedness of maternal and neonatal health services: A survey in Jumla, Nepal, BMC Health Service Research 21:1023. https://rdcu.be/cyD01
- Tamang, P., Mahato, P., Simkhada P., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) Pregnancy, Childbirth, Breastfeeding and Coronavirus Disease: What is known so far? Journal of Midwifery Association of Nepal (JMAN) 2(1): 96-101.
- Tamang, P., Mahato, P., van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P. (2020) Pregnancy and COVID-19: Lessons so far, Healthy Newborn Network [14 April] healthynewbornnetwork.org/blog/pregnancy-and-covid-19-lessons-so-far/
Chapter published today: ‘Birth systems across the world’
Today our chapter: Birth Systems across the World: Variations in maternity policy and services across countries was published in the renowned series of books: FIGO Continuous Textbook of Women’s Medicine [1]. This chapter was co-authored by Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) with Prof. Sirpa Wrede and Doctoral Researcher from the University of Helsinki (Finland) and Dr. from the European University at St. Petersburg (Russia). The chapter includes a set of recommendations for future practice.
Volume 1 is edited by Prof. Jane Sandall from King’s College London. Earlier this year Prof. Sandall was appointed as the first-ever head of midwifery research for England and one of her key focuses will be around ending racial health inequalities in maternity care.
Everything published on The Global Library of Women’s Medicine is available to everyone everywhere for free and there is no requirement to register in order to view it.

Reference:
- Wrede S, Novkunskaya A, Sarlio-Nieminen, J, van Teijlingen, E. (2021) Birth Systems across the World: Variations in maternity policy and services across countries, Glob. Libr. Women’s Med., ISSN: 1756-2228; DOI 10.3843/GLOWM.415183
Midwifery and the Media
Today we received an end-of-year good-news message from ResearchGate telling us that 700 people had ‘read’ our book Midwifery, Childbirth and the Media [1]. Lee Wright, Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Birmingham City University wrote in his review of our edited volume: “…our media image and digital foot print are rapidly becoming the most important window into our profession. In a rapidly changing environment this book provides an up to date and informative insight into how our profession is affected by the media and how our profession can inform and influence the image of midwifery. This area is going to become even more important in the future universities and trusts increasingly use broadcast and social media to manage information and inform our clients of the services we provide. This book will be the important first text in a new growth area. It brings together an internationally recognised group of authors who are experts in this field. I wholeheartedly recommend it to you.”
This edited collection was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2017 and it is part of a larger body of Bournemouth University research on the topic [2-6].
Professor Edwin van Teijlingen, Professor Vanora Hundley and Associate Professor Ann Luce
References:
- Luce, A., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) (2017) Midwifery, Childbirth and the Media, London: Palgrave Macmillan [ISBN: 978-3-319-63512-5].
- Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V., Cheyne, H., van Teijlingen, E., Angell, C. (2016) “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 40 http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0827-x
- Angell, C. (2017) An Everyday Trauma: How the Media Portrays Infant Feeding, In: Luce, A. et al. (Eds.) Midwifery, Childbirth and the Media, London: Palgrave Macmillan pp: 45-59.
- Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E., Edlund, S. (2019) Changing the narrative around childbirth: whose responsibility is it? Evidence-based Midwifery 17(2): 47-52.
- Hundley, V., Duff, E., Dewberry, J., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Fear in childbirth: are the media responsible? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 24(4): 444-447.
- Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Do midwives need to be more media savvy? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 25(1):5-10.
New CMMPH midwifery paper
Today the European Journal of Midwifery published our paper ‘Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature’. There are many apps to help women to monitor aspects of their own pregnancy and maternal health. This literature review aims to understand midwives’ perspectives on women self-monitoring their pregnancy using eHealth and mHealth, and establish gaps in research. mHealth (mobile health) is the use of mobile devices, digital technologies for health, health analytics, or tele-health, whilst eHealth (electronic health) is the health care supported by electronic processes.
It established that midwives generally hold ambivalent views towards the use of eHealth and mHealth technologies in antenatal care. Often, midwives acknowledged the potential benefits of such technologies, such as their ability to modernise antenatal care and to help women make more informed decisions about their pregnancy. However, midwives were quick to point out the risks and limitations of these, such as the accuracy of conveyed information, and negative impacts on the patient-professional relationship. The authors conclude that with COVID-19 making face-to-face maternity service provision more complicated and with technology is continuously developing, there is a compelling need for studies that investigate the role of eHealth and mHealth in self-monitoring pregnancy, and the consequences this has for pregnant women, health professionals and organisations, as well as midwifery curricula.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
Reference:
- Vickery, M., Way, S., Hundley, V., Smith, G., van Teijlingen, E., Westwood G. (2020) Midwives’ views women’s use of mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature, European Journal of Midwifery 4: 36 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/126625
Widespread media coverage in Nepal for BU researcher


We are very grateful to BU’s Dr. Nirmal Aryal for engaging with all his media contacts in Nepal to achieve this great coverage.
References:
- https://ekantipur.com/diaspora/2020/06/02/159107091260531499.html
- https://www.nepalilink.com/2020/06/02/5326.html
- http://www.nepalbritain.com/?p=79336
- https://globalnepalese.com/post/2020-06-942777589?fbclid=IwAR3RJlHpeG4p3PdryUWzhvCDG0yiYjNrdnQZNJo4uzznyuFA8cF6DKLbKU8
- https://www.southasiatime.com/2020/06/04/birthing-centers-are-savings-lives-in-rural-nepal/
- Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C., Hundley, V. (2020), Evaluation of a health promotion intervention associated with birthing centres in rural Nepal PLoS One 15(5): e0233607. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233607
BU midwifery paper cited in WHO report
Last week the Regional Office for South East Asia of the WHO (World Health Organization) published its strategy for strengthening midwifery [1]. The report highlights how Bangladesh, India and Nepal have recently introduced midwifery education. They joined DPR Korea, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and TimorLeste in establishing midwives as an independent cadre of the health workforce.
This report cited our 2015 paper on midwifery developments in Nepal which appeared in the Journal of Asian Midwives [2]. The lead author Jillian Ireland is a Visiting Faculty in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) and Professional Midwifery Advocate at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, my other co-author, Joy Kemp, is Global Professional Adviser at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM). The paper reflects on the RCM Global Midwifery Twinning Project in Nepal. The paper argues that the presence of a strong professional association of midwives in a country yields double benefits. On one side, the association provides inputs into framing policies and developing standards of care, and on the other, it ensures quality services by continuously updating its members with information and evidence for practice.
Bournemouth University’s work in Nepal is ongoing with a project run by CMMPH helping to develop midwifery education and training the trainers funded by the German aid organisation GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).
References:
- World Health Organization. Regional Office for South-East Asia (2020) Regional Strategic Directions for strengthening Midwifery in the South-East Asia Region 2020–2024, Delhi: World Health Organization. Regional Office for South-East Asia.
- Ireland, J., van Teijlingen, E, Kemp J. (2015) Twinning in Nepal: the Royal College of Midwives UK and the Midwifery Society of Nepal working in partnership, Journal of Asian Midwives 2 (1): 26-33. http://ecommons.aku.edu/jam/vol2/iss1/5/
Congratulations to Psychology colleagues
This week the journal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth accepted a new paper written by three Bournemouth University Psychologists. The paper ‘Be Quiet and Man Up: A Qualitative Questionnaire Study into Men Who Experienced Birth Trauma’ is written by Emily Daniels, Emily Arden-Close and Andrew Mayers [1] . The paper, using online questionnaires, argues that fathers reported that witnessing their partner’s traumatic birth affected them. They felt this affected their mental health and relationships long into the postnatal period. However, there is no nationally recognised support in place for fathers to use as a result of their experiences. The participants attributed this to being perceived as less important than women in the postnatal period, and maternity services’ perceptions of the father more generally. Implications include ensuring support is available for mother and father following a traumatic birth, with additional staff training geared towards the father’s role.
This paper adds to the growing pool of publications by Bournemouth University staff on men and maternity care. Earlier research work has been published in The Conversation [2] and the Journal of Neonatal Nursing [3-4].
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal health (CMMPH) and Associate Editor BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth
References:
- Daniels, E., Arden-Close, E., Mayers, A. (2020) Be Quiet and Man Up: A Qualitative Questionnaire Study into Men Who Experienced Birth Trauma, BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth (accepted).
- Mayers, A. (2017) Postnatal depression: men get it too, The Conversation, 20 November https://theconversation.com/postnatal-depression-men-get-it-too-87567
- Ireland, J., Khashu, M., Cescutti-Butler, L., van Teijlingen, E., Hewitt-Taylor, J. (2016) Experiences of fathers with babies admitted to neonatal care units: A review of the literature, Journal of Neonatal Nursing 22(4): 171–176.
- Fisher, D., Khashu, M, Adama, E, Feeley, N, Garfield, C, Ireland, J, Koliouli F, Lindberg, B., Noergaard, B., Provenzi, L., Thomson-Salo, F., van Teijlingen, E (2018) Fathers in neonatal units: Improving infant health by supporting the baby-father bond & mother-father co-parenting Journal of Neonatal Nursing 24(6): 306-312 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2018.08.007
Explore our work, meet our partners, and find out how you can collaborate with us by clicking here! MIHERC is led by Sheffield Hallam University, with Bournemouth University as a key partner and the important funding coming from NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) Maternity Challenge Initiative. The BU key academics are: Huseyin Dogan, Vanora Hundley, Edwin van Teijlingen, and Deniz Çetinkaya. Please share with all who may be interested.