Keynote Speakers

Bridget Lynch, is serving as President of the ICM during the Triennium 2008 - 2011. She is an Associate Clinical Professor at McMaster University in Ontario and has been in this role since 2001 and is the Chair of the Division of Midwifery, St. Michael's Hospital, in Toronto, Canada and recently represented the university in a multi-disciplinary project with the University of Haiti. She has been a midwife in Toronto, Ontario for more than 25 years and has been involved in advocacy for midwifes for the last 10 years. One of her priorities as the President of ICM is to strengthen the midwifery profession globally. Bridget also wants to improve the relationship between midwives, nurses, obstetricians and pediatricians to ensure seamless multidisciplinary care centred on the mother and her newborn. Bridget has also served as President of the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) and is a founding member of the Canadian Association of Midwives (CAM) and has been on the Board of ICM for 8 year and has been an invited speaker to meetings and conferences on midwifery and sexual and reproductive health in South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. She assisted in the development and implementation of the ICM UNFPA Midwives Program which is currently strengthening the midwifery profession in 12 low-resource countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Cambodia and Haiti. She is an Assistant Professor in the Midwifery Education Program at McMaster University and recently represented the university in a multi-disciplinary project with the University of Haiti.

Sheena Byrom RN, RM, MA. qualified as a nurse and midwife in the 1970's, and has worked in the North of England since that time. Her past clinical practice encompasses ten years within a GP Unit, and then a combination of hospital and community midwifery, both clinical and managerial. Sheena is currently Head of Midwifery at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, in England. She previously worked as a consultant midwife, in a role that encompassed the refocusing of maternity services in response to need, leading midwives in the public health agenda, and developing peer support networks and user involvement in service provision. Her post was part funded by the University of Central Lancashire where she contributed to the research capacity building strategy. Sheena was nominated twice to meet with the Prime Minister, has been involved in several national projects with NICE and the Department of Health. Sheena has published and presented nationally and internationally on topics such as addressing inequalities in health, leadership, normal birth, peer support and promoting true woman centred philosophies of care. Sheena is commencing a PhD in September 2010, and will be studying the potential links between normal, positive birth experience and social capital.

Lorna Davies, RM, PGCEA, MA, is a UK qualified midwife who has worked in midwifery education since 1995. Her particular interests lie in examination of the newborn, parent education, breastfeeding, birth art, normal birth and e-Learning. She is also co-director of www.withwoman.co.uk. Lorna is currently living in New Zealand and works as a Senior Lecturer at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology where she is working on developing a course on sustainability and midwifery as part of the Bachelor of Midwifery Program. She has published numerous articles in midwifery journals, has contributed chapters to several midwifery textbooks. She recently edited The Art and Soul of Midwifery and Examination of the Newborn and Neonatal Health: A Multidimensional Approach. Lorna also carries a very small midwifery caseload as a self employed midwife and is a childbirth educator.

Conference Program

We are delighted to announce the Conference Program for the Australian College of Midwives, 17th National Conference 2011 - A Midwifery Odyssey is now available - please click here to download. This conference is about taking a journey together, an exciting adventure where we will seek innovations in our practice as we create new opportunities for midwives, mothers and babies. By being bold and taking chances together we will be able to look beyond the horizon towards new challenges in the future for midwifery. In a first for the ACM, the Creative Arts Festival is an exciting addition to the National Conference.

The organising committee received more than 130 abstracts for oral presentation, posters and workshops. The abstracts which have been accepted and with the three international keynotes that are leaders in their fields, the conference is guaranteed to be a exciting conference and a wonderful learning opportunity. The program for 2011 is bigger that ACM has ever presented before and the many concurrent sessions will ensure that everyone attending will find presentations relevant to their specific field while the poster presentations will provide delegates with the opportunity to have one-on-one access with presenters.

We look forward to seeing you at the conference. Registrations will open in May 2011.

 

Creative Arts Presentations

Creative arts are a powerful medium to express women, birth and midwifery. This exciting and innovative addition to the National Conference aims to celebrate the art and creativity that women and midwives express. The Creative Arts Festival will have a designated space for art displays and installations. The conference "Yarning Table" will be a space where delegates can take time out from the conference to sit and share stories while knitting, crocheting or sewing for some great causes.

 

Advertised links