Louise’s background is in both nursing and midwifery. She qualified as a nurse in 1984 in Sheffield and worked in both ophthalmology and accident and emergency before starting midwifery at St Mary’s in Paddington, London in 1986.
Once qualified as a midwife, Louise worked clinically for a number of years. She started in hospital and then moved to the community around Camden and Bloomsbury at University College Hospital. It was here that Louise was involved with a wide range of midwifery practice including water births, home births, all manner of antenatal care (particularly to Bengali women) and postnatal care. It was during this time that her interest in infant feeding grew.
Louise then became a lecturer/practitioner at King’s College, London and later a midwifery lecturer. It was during this time that she became involved with the ‘Baby Friendly Initiative’ (BFI) UNICEF, WHO project working with them to create the University Education Standards award. Louise led the project to gain accreditation for the midwifery undergraduate programmes at King’s College and later at the University of York.
Louise joined the midwifery education team at the University of York in 2010. Louise is interested in all aspects of midwifery education and practice. In particular: Infant feeding; ‘normal’ birth and a ‘social’ model of midwifery care; 3rd stage of labour, reflective practice and midwifery undergraduate admission processes.