Midwifery Lecturer Nominated for National Award

A lecturer in midwifery at the University of Suffolk has been shortlisted for a national award to celebrate her work with autistic colleagues, students, and mothers-to-be.

Karen Henry is nominated for the Royal College of Midwives Equity, Diversity and Inclusion award and will now attend an interview to talk about her support work which has included training sessions, co-authoring a book and publishing multiple articles.

This year, Karen has also worked with the Royal College of Midwives to develop a toolkit for midwifery educators to allow them to support neurodivergent midwifery students.

Her work promotes inclusion for all autistic people by offering support strategies to autistic and neurodivergent colleagues, students and women accessing maternity services.

Ideas to help autistic mothers to be include extra time for antenatal appointments, appointments at quieter times of the day, and visits to labour and postnatal wards to help with familiarity.

A graduate from the University of Suffolk back in 2018, Karen has been lecturing at the University since 2022 and has said it “has always felt like home to me, and I love working here”.

“Midwifery is a wonderful career which can take you down so many different and wonderful avenues.

“Teaching midwifery is a joy because I get to share my enthusiasm and knowledge with the students who will take this into practice, and I get to share their journey with them.

“I never saw myself as a midwifery lecturer when I was a student but now, I can’t imagine anything else.

The awards ceremony takes place in London in October.

To find out more about studying midwifery at the University of Suffolk go to BSc (Hons) Midwifery | University of Suffolk (uos.ac.uk)