I am currently the professional Policy Advisor for the Royal College of Midwives, a professional organisation and trade union. My role involves advising on local and national policy issues, relating to women and children’s health. I am also a registered practising midwife and have worked in the NHS in clinical practice and at a senior management level.

I work with and enlist the support of voluntary sector organisations regarding issues, such as domestic abuse, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), access for Travellers to maternity services, supporting parents, infant nutrition and many other areas which impact on the health of women and children. I also work with a variety of government and non-governmental organisations, such as Department for Education on Safeguarding Children, the Department of Health on Violence against Women and Girls, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office on Forced Marriage and FGM. My work also includes links with voluntary organisations such as, Coram Children’s Legal Centre, Forward and Women’s Aid.

I am currently a trustee of Best Beginnings, the child inequality charity and a member of the UK Stem Cell Strategy Oversight Committee; NHS Blood and Transplant and a former trustee of the Maternity Alliance and a former board member of the International Board for Lactation Consultant Examiners, based in Washington D.C., USA.

I was a member of the first London Health Commission, was an adviser to the Sure Start unit cross-departmental initiative for the “Sure Start Trailblazers” areas. I work with/advise on a variety of high-level advisory groups, such as the NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Programme, the Local Government Association’s Public Health and GP Stakeholder Group, and Maternity Worldwide - a charitable organisation working predominantly in Africa to improve maternal health. I have also worked with various research advisory groups and was a member of the NICE Guideline Development Group for maternal and child nutrition.

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