thru the pinard Podcast

message me: what did you take away from this episode?  Ep 114  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V)  Tracy Humphrey on rural training in Scottish Highlands, induction and understanding women's choices#PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #ruralmidwifery #induction #womenschoiceresearch link t.ly/oMeCVSomeone once told Tracy Humphrey she wasn’t “fully qualified yet”. Instead of shrinking, she used it as fuel and went on to become a professor of maternal health and a senior university leader, while staying deeply connected to what matters most in maternity care: women’s choices, experiences, and outcomes.We talk through the real-world impact of a boutique midwifery education in the Scottish Highlands, what regional training can teach you that big-city systems often miss, and why continuity of care and one-to-one support in labour still sit at the centre of safe, humane practice. Tracy also shares how her master’s and PhD work grew from everyday clinical frustration with protocol-driven care that wasn’t always evidence-based, and how mentorship and being embedded in strong research teams can turn a clinician into a confident, capable researcher.The conversation then shifts to induction of labour and the rising global rates. Tracy offers a challenging but practical reframe: the goal is not simply to drive numbers down, but to ensure women are adequately informed, offered real alternatives, and supported through shared decision-making and consent. We also explore her work in global maternal health and policy roles, what brought her to Australia just before Covid, and why midwifery autonomy and funding models shape everything from workforce planning to women’s access to midwife-led care.If you care about midwifery, maternity services, women-centred care, and evidence-based practice, you’ll get a lot from this one. Subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V

message me: what did you take away from this episode?  Ep 113  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Wendy Foster on moral distress in midwifery and how safer birth starts with listening#PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #moraldistress #saferbirths #magnesium #diabetesresearch link t.ly/Gy3Y4A midwife can do everything “right” and still walk away feeling like they’ve failed, not because of skill, but because the system makes the right care impossible. That feeling has a name: moral distress. We’re joined by Wendy Foster, a midwife, educator, researcher and union advocate, to unpack how moral distress shows up in Australian maternity care and why it matters for burnout, workforce retention, and women’s experiences of birth.We trace Wendy’s path from direct-entry midwifery to rural and regional practice, then into education, where she starts noticing how training structures can pull students away from woman-centred care. We talk continuity of care requirements, the hidden workload of “chasing numbers”, and why the real costs land as time, fatigue and money. Wendy also shares how an unexpected health detour sparked an honours deep dive into magnesium and diabetes links, and how research skills still pay off even when a study can’t be completed.From there, the conversation moves into the research that helped shift national thinking on placement payments, and into the work she now does with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), including enterprise bargaining issues like workload recognition and the push for fairer professional conditions. We finish with the simplest (and hardest) reset: start by finding out what’s important to women, then rebuild policy and service design around choice and relationships.If you found this valuable, follow the podcast, share it with a colleague, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations. Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V

message me: what did you take away from this episode? Ep 112  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Georgina Voss on FGM, one-to-one labour support and where governance can take you#PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #FGM #one-to-one #governance #leadershipresearch: t.ly/oV_kZPeople love to say midwives “just sit there” during labour. That throwaway line misses the point and it misses the skill. We’re joined by Georgina “Gina” Voss, a midwife of 30 years whose career spans emergency nursing, maternity governance, FGM clinical work, and a PhD focused on what one-to-one labour support truly looks like in real birth rooms.Gina shares the moments that shaped her practice: learning to trust intuition when a patient looks fine but something feels wrong, being mentored by fiercely autonomous midwives who protect the birth space, and seeing how quickly normal birth can be disrupted when systems don’t support midwife-led care. We also explore her work on supporting women with female genital mutilation (female genital cutting) and what good care requires, from using clear respectful language to understanding why deinfibulation should be the first action for women with type III FGM, plus the practical postnatal details clinicians too often miss.Her ethnographic research takes us behind the door, across home births and midwife-led units, including the relationship-building needed to be invited in, the ethics of being a clinician-researcher, and the constant balancing act that can look like “doing nothing” from the outside. We finish by zooming out to midwifery education and workforce development, including Gina’s work helping to build a midwifery degree in the UAE aligned with International Confederation of Midwives competencies, and her advice for midwives who want careers in clinical practice, research, leadership, and governance.If you care about safe maternity care, midwifery continuity of care, one-to-one support in labour, and respectful women-centred practice, this one will stay with you. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review so more people find the work midwives do when it matters most. Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V

message me: what did you take away from this episode? Ep 111  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Nicole Hainsworth on from regional wards to how to make CoCE better for students#PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #regional #CoCE #undergradstudents #assessmentresearch link t.ly/YQD0jOne of the fastest ways to improve maternity care is also the simplest: notice what doesn’t sit right, then ask a better question. We sit down with midwife and academic Nicole Haynesworth to trace how a career built across regional New South Wales, a high acuity UK hospital, and university teaching turns curiosity into real change for women, babies, and the clinicians learning the craft.We talk about what Nicole brought back from the UK, including a different approach to post-caesarean care that keeps mother and baby together, and how asking “why are we doing it this way?” can shift practice when you involve the right stakeholders. From there, we move into midwifery education, continuity of care, and what Nicole’s PhD reveals about students learning best when they feel safe, trusted, and connected to the woman’s experience, rather than just being assessed on tasks. Along the way, we unpack practical teaching tools such as shared goal-setting, reflective practice, and making the “hidden” skills of advocacy, autonomy, and accountability explicit.We also look ahead to program improvement in Graduate Entry midwifery, supporting clinicians returning to practice, and the research questions still driving Nicole, including synthetic oxytocin policies and induction, epidural-related fever pathways, and gestational diabetes. If you care about evidence-based midwifery, continuity of care, and better feedback loops between women and the system, you’ll get plenty to take back to your own practice. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a review with the one question you think maternity care should be asking next. Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V

message me: what did you take away from this episode? Ep 110  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) SPOTLIGHT on the ICM Chief Midwife - Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent#PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #maternal #inequities #globalmidwifery #worldmidwives #ICM #leadership #advocacy #governance #datamangementhttps://internationalmidwives.org/who-we-are/First in our new 'SPOTLIGHT on' series, I chat with ICM Chief Midwife, Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-BentWhat happens when a national chief midwife takes the leap to champion more than a million midwives across 120 countries? We share that journey with candour and urgency—why timing mattered, how a call to “give back” became a global mission, and what it takes to turn evidence into action for women, babies, and families.We unpack the role of a chief midwife at scale: elevating the profession, pushing for educated, regulated, and well-resourced midwifery, and ensuring midwife-led models of care are implemented where they save the most lives. The contrasts in maternal mortality are stark, but the solutions aren’t mysterious. From essential medicines that actually work in local conditions to policy choices that put women’s health at the centre, we look at how ministries and health systems can prioritise dignity and outcomes without setting midwives up to fail.Crisis is another proving ground. When others run out, midwives run into conflict zones, climate disasters, and displacement. That requires leadership, voice, and the right tools. We talk about ICM’s partnerships for emergency readiness, the train-the-trainer programs shaping on-the-ground response, and the crucial difference between mere representation and real inclusion at decision-making tables. Then we shift to growth: the Midwifery Leaders Executive Sponsorship Program, the forthcoming ICM Leadership Academy, and the first global leadership competencies designed to guide job descriptions, performance reviews, and national workforce planning with consistency.Data ties it together. The refreshed Midwives Data Hub helps leaders build stronger cases for change and gives educators and students a global view that sharpens local care. We close with stories that stay with you—frontline births in shelters, flags raised at ICM Congress, and a shared commitment not to leave anyone behind. If you believe preventable maternal death should be history, this conversation shows the path forward.Enjoyed the episode? Follow, rate, and share with a colleague who champions midwifery. Your review helps more people find the show and strengthens the global voice of midwives. Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V

message me: what did you take away from this episode? Ep 109  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent on championing equity of quality care from the ward to the world#PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #forcedmigration #maternal #inequities #globalmidwifery #worldmidwives #ICM #maternalsafety #helplineresearch link t.ly/B_NgqSome careers trace a tidy line; Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent’s draws a map. From cycling between neonatal units and community visits in Hackney to advising ministers and shaping WHO-backed guidance, she shows how a midwife’s craft scales from bedside to policy without losing its heart. The through-line is simple and hard: women deserve to be heard, understood, and supported by confident, competent midwives who have time to build trust.We unpack the formative years in London’s melting pot, where culture, church and family shaped everything from pain expression to antenatal priorities. Jacqueline explains why continuity of care is more than a model; it’s the context that makes advice land and reduces unnecessary intervention. Her teaching era ran in parallel with hands-on births and multidisciplinary training, proving that credible education starts in the room where it matters most. A master’s in public health sharpened her prevention mindset and introduced epigenetics as a practical tool: every conversation on diet, sleep, breastfeeding and safety ripples across generations.Her professional doctorate emerged from a ringing labour ward phone. Studying health-seeking behaviour on a maternity helpline, she found that careful listening and evidence-based reassurance keep many women safely at home longer, lower system pressure, and improve confidence. Those lessons later guided her as England’s chief midwife during COVID: pre-vaccine fear, staff shortages, and unequal risk demanded clear triage, protection for women facing domestic violence in lockdown, and targeted support for Black and Asian women disproportionately affected. Looking outward, she champions three landmark documents on midwife models of care from WHO and partners, calling them the blueprint for cutting preventable maternal and perinatal deaths if leaders choose to act.Come for the story of a midwife who never left the bedside behind; stay for a clear, actionable case for midwife-led care that puts safety, dignity and public health first. If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a review telling us where midwifery can make the biggest difference next. Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V

message me: what did you take away from this episode? Ep 108 (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Liz McNeill and the 5th anniversary wrap up#PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #doctoralstudies #supportnetwork #cheersquad #celebrations #globalmidwifery #phdlife #profdoc #DNP #DMPFive years on, the numbers tell a hopeful story—119 countries tuned in—but the real win is what listeners do with the ideas. We revisit a year of fiercely practical conversations that move from thriving after burnout to the politics of consent, from water birth service design to the realities of dual-qualified pathways, and from oxytocin research to the tools that measure and mend birth trauma. Along the way we challenge how naming shapes midwifery’s visibility in research and policy, and we keep circling a core truth: informed choice isn’t a slogan, it’s practice.We also look ahead with purpose. I share my PhD submission timeline, a speaking-and-meetup tour across England, Scotland, Denmark, and the ICM conference in Lisbon. Most importantly, I’m calling in clinical doctoral midwives—PhDs, professional doctorates, DNPs—whose bedside perspective keeps scholarship honest and useful. If you’re 12 months post-completion or working toward it, your voice belongs here.To widen the circle, we’re considering launching “Spotlight On,” a new stream for trailblazers shaping midwifery and women’s health outside formal doctorates: service redesigners, community advocates, educators, and policy shifters. Expect focused, story-rich chats that you can translate into practice the next day. If an episode sparks a better question with a woman in your care, or gives you language to push for change in your unit, the mission is working.If this resonates, help the midwifery voice carry further: follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a rating with one guest you want to hear next. Your suggestions shape the next hundred conversations. Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V

message me: what did you take away from this episode? Ep 107  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Amanda Firth on maternal inequities, forced migration and need for increased interpreters #PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #forcedmigration #maternal #inequities #interpreters #CALD #huddersfielduniresearch link t.ly/a7Eol What if the biggest barrier to mental health support in pregnancy isn’t stigma, but language? We sit down with Amanda Firth to unpack the hidden seams of maternity care: where well-meaning screening tools miss people, where interpreters enter too late, and where equity hinges on small, repeatable habits in busy clinics.Amanda traces a path from home births and district hospitals to a PhD on refugee and asylum-seeking women’s perinatal mental health. She reveals how identity, migration status, and access to interpreters shape outcomes, and why midwives sometimes reword screening tools just to get women the help they clearly need. We break down trauma-informed care that protects both women and clinicians, and explore the overlooked solution of training midwives and interpreters together so mental health conversations become safer, clearer, and culturally grounded.Beyond the consult room, we tackle workforce realities: staffing ratios, burnout, and the urgency of continuity of carer. Amanda shares how to translate research beyond paywalls into practice people can use—turning dense papers into plain language and peer learning that sticks. It’s an honest, hopeful look at building fair maternity systems, starting with what you can change today while the bigger machinery catches up.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review. Your support helps more midwives, students, and advocates find these conversations and put them to work. Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V

message me: what did you take away from this episode? Ep 106  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Olivia Tierney on regional practice, COCE learning, and national policy#PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #regionalmidwifery #COCE #policy #governanceresearch link t.ly/qze7RA nursing student drawn to babies and family care doesn’t always end up writing policy, but that’s exactly where Olivia Tierney’s path led. We sit down with the Senior Midwifery Advisor at the Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Office to map a career that spans MGP caseloads, tertiary units, regional hospitals under flood and fire, and the long arc of a PhD that changed how she sees student learning and continuity of care.Olivia takes us inside the contrasts that shaped her practice: the intimacy of continuity models versus the shock of high-acuity tertiary care, the autonomy and breadth of regional shifts, and the logistics of transfers when roads close and distance is daily reality. She explains why continuity of care experience (COCE) lights a spark in students, how following women through pregnancy, birth and postnatal periods turns theory into grounded judgement, reflection, and confidence. Her research journey is frank and relatable: withdrawing, restarting, choosing supervisors who fit, sitting with uncertainty until the work clicks, and then using that evidence to improve how students learn across varied placements.We also explore what it means to lead from policy. Olivia argues for midwives at every decision table, translating lived practice into better guidelines, workforce planning and equitable access, especially for regional and remote communities. She shares how endorsed midwife pathways, prescribing shifts and smarter placement design can reduce attrition and keep midwives in roles that match their philosophy and scope. Through it all, she keeps a link to research, ensuring national decisions are tested against evidence and the realities of care.If you care about continuity, education that actually works, and policies that respect both women and the profession, you’ll find both clarity and courage here. Subscribe, share with a colleague who mentors students, and leave a review with one change you want to see in maternity care—what would keep more midwives thriving? Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V

message me: what did you take away from this episode? Ep 105  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Deborah Fox on water births in Singapore, intrapartum transfers and reimagining technology in midwifery#PhDMidwives #research #midwifery #waterbirth #transfers #technology #UTS #Singaporeresearch link ibit.ly/mQ4jmWhat if transfer from a planned home birth wasn’t a failure but proof the system is working? We sit down with Deborah Fox to unpack a career that moved from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to the frontline of woman-centred maternity care — and into the engine room where new technologies are designed. From scaling a water birth service in Singapore to shaping wireless CTG so women can keep moving in labour, Deborah shows how evidence and empathy can live alongside devices without crowding out choice.We walk through the findings of her grounded theory PhD on intrapartum transfer and why the real friction often occurs between midwives across settings, not between midwives and obstetricians. The fix isn’t blame; it’s continuity, shared protocols, and a culture that holds the woman at the centre. Deborah’s current work uses mediation theory to ask smarter questions about technology: not whether it’s good or bad, but how it shapes care — and how midwives and women can shape it back. That approach now guides collaborations with industry so future fetal monitoring and maternity devices embody mobility, consent, and informed choice from the start.The horizon is bold and necessary: virtual maternity wards and remote monitoring that keep complex pregnancies at home with strong midwifery relationships, timely escalation, and less disruption for families. In a country where distance defines access, this is more than convenience; it’s equity. We talk practical steps for protecting physiology in every setting — from skin-to-skin in theatre to mobility in labour — and the habits that keep relational care alive across screens and sensors.If you care about safer births, better choices, and technology that serves people rather than the other way around, this conversation will give you fresh tools and a hopeful roadmap. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway — what would make maternity care more woman-centred where you live? Support the showDo you know someone who should tell their story?email me  - [email protected] aim is for this to be a fortnightly podcast with extra episodes thrown inThis podcast can be found on various socials as @thruthepinardd and our website -https://thruthepinardpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ or ibit.ly/Re5V