This Webinar was held on 24/04/2007
Presented by: Professor Soo Downe
This presentation will explore the evidence base around various places of birth, and examine some of the controversies in this area. It will focus specifically on the possibility that, at least in some cases, professional groups may have become highly polarized in the debate between in and out of hospital birth. Soo will explore evidence that suggests that the wellbeing of some women and babies might be at risk during in-fighting between these two extreme positions. She will then examine factors that may encourage a move towards effective multidisciplinary collaboration between birthplace boundaries, based on trust and mutual respect.

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Biography: Prof Soo Downe, BA(hons), RM, MSc, PhD, ‘Place of Birth’

Soo has spent 15 years working in various clinical, research, and project development roles at Derby City General Hospital. From January 2001 Soo has worked at the University of Central Lancashire in England, where she is now the Professor of Midwifery Studies. She set up the UCLan Women, Infant, and Sexual Health (WISH) Group, which was launched (as the Midwifery Studies Research Unit) in October 2002. She currently chairs the UK Royal College of Midwives Campaign for Birth steering committee. She is a member of the Medical Research Council College of Experts, and has held a number of visiting professorships, most recently in Belgium and Hong Kong. Her main research focus at present is the nature of, and culture around, normal birth, and she is the editor of Normal Birth, Evidence and Debate (2004, 2008).

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