Meet the team
Tina Lavender - Joint Editor-in-Chief
Tina is a Professor of Midwifery and Women's Health at the University of Central Lancashire and a Consultant Midwife at Liverpool Women's Foundation Trust. She is an experienced researcher with a number of research interests that focus on women's expectations, experiences and outcomes. Much of her work is International, through partnerships with groups such as the African Midwives Research Network.
Tina is a member of the National Clinical FGM group, the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and the Cochrane Collaboration. In addition, she has recently edited a book entitled 'Demystifying qualitative research in pregnancy and childbirth'.
Yana Richens - Joint Editor-in-Chief
Yana began her career as a state enrolled nurse in 1979 and is now a consultant midwife at University College London Hospital. She has a wide range of clinical experience as a nurse and a midwife, both in hospital and community settings. Yana was a member of both the Department of Health ("DofH") steering group for Making a Difference for midwives in 1999 and the external working group for the Maternity Module of the National Service Framework in 2004. She is a member of the Chief Nursing Officers national advisory group, providing specialist advice on black and ethnic minority issues in the NHS, and was the first midwife to be awarded the prestigious Mary Seacole Fellowship, an award made by the DofH, which enabled Yana to undertake a piece of qualitative research exploring the experiences of women of Pakistani origin within UK Maternity services (the full report is available at www.yanarichens.co.uk). Since the publication of this report Yana has continued to work within the community setting in her role as a consultant midwife to raise awareness within public and professional groups, something she also achieves from writing and publishing extensively as well as speaking at local, national, and international conferences.
Yana is a member of the NICE guideline development group for the guideline on puerperal/perinatal mental health, and an expert advisor to the National Patient Safety Agency Prioritisation Board. She is an honorary senior lecturer at City University, and in 2005 co-founded the Female Genital Mutilation clinical guideline group, which is committed to the support of women who have undergone FGM and the eradication of this practice in the UK for which she campaigns tirelessly.
Victoria Clift-Matthews - Editor
Victoria graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a degree in English in 1998. She went on to train as a midwife at King's College London before deciding to move into publishing. Victoria has since worked as an editor on a number of academic books produced by the Chartered Insurance Institute. She joined MA Healthcare as editor of British Journal of Midwifery in September 2006.
Editorial board
Kuldip Bharj - Senior Lecturer in Midwifery, University of Leeds
Margaret Chesney - Midwife Teacher, Department of Midwifery, Salford University
Debby Gould - Head of Midwifery and Lead Nurse for Gynaecology, Mayday University Hospital, Croydon
Kathleen Jones - Lecturer/Practitioner, Maelor Hospital, Wrexham, Clwyd, Wales
Shirley Jones - Professor and Head of Department of Nursing and Women's Health/Supervisor of Midwives Division of Women's Health, University of Central England, Birmingham
Chris Kettle - Professor of Women's Health, University Hospital of North Staffordshire and Staffordshire University
Paul Lewis - Professor of Midwifery, Bournemouth University
Julia Magill-Cuerden - Principal Lecturer, Thames Valley University
Robyn Phillips - Professional Adviser, Health Professions Wales, Cardiff
Judith Scott - Freelance Trainer and Writer, PROSPECT, London
Andrew Symon - Senior Lecturer in Midwifery, University of Dundee
Christina Tucker - Head of Midwifery Education, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of West of England, Bristol
Denis Walsh - Senior Lecturer in Midwifery, University of Central Lancashire
Catherine Warwick - General Manager, Women's and Children's Services/Director of Midwifery, King's College Hospital, London
Chris Warren - Independent Midwife, York
Sian Warriner - Consultant Midwife, John Radcliffe Hospital, PGEC, City Hospital, Nottingham
Kim Watts - Midwife Lecturer, Academic Division of Midwifery, PGEC, City Hospital, Nottingham