Dr Anna Madeley

I am a registered midwife with a deep passion for supporting women, families, and midwives through all stages of the childbearing journey. Over the years, I’ve been privileged to work across the full spectrum of midwifery care—from Labour, Postnatal, and Antenatal wards to DAU and Community settings. My leadership journey has included roles such as Practice Development Midwife, founder and lead of a dedicated Homebirth Team, and, following the completion of my PhD, Consultant Midwife. After two fulfilling years as Deputy Head of Subject for Midwifery and Lead Midwife for Education at a University in the Midlands, I have since moved to a London University, where I continue my work as an educator and academic, contributing to midwifery research, teaching, and professional development.

My doctoral research explored, through grounded theory, how women construct and navigate decisions that fall outside established clinical guidelines—such as declining or requesting interventions not routinely offered—and the complex social and systemic factors that shape those choices. This work deepened my commitment to understanding how maternity services, policies, and professional practices can better support genuine choice and autonomy. I’m particularly interested in the legal, ethical, and regulatory frameworks that underpin contemporary maternity care.

Alongside my academic work, I volunteer on faculty teaching obstetric emergencies in community settings and human rights in childbirth. I also collaborate with nursing and medical colleagues to create educational and research initiatives aimed at strengthening knowledge and skills around safe, compassionate abortion care.

My research interests span a wide range of areas including personalised care planning, informed decision-making, complex care, reproductive rights, midwifery education and pedagogy, and home birth. My MSc in Evidence-Based Healthcare from the University of Oxford provided me with a strong foundation in study design, medical statistics, and qualitative research method, skills that continue to inform my teaching and scholarship. My MSc thesis explored the experiences of midwives supporting women with complex needs who choose to give birth at home.

My passion for research and education in midwifery is reflected in my diverse portfolio, which encompasses clinical practice, human rights, and innovation in midwifery education. I am also the author and editor of Home Birth (Elsevier, 2023), a work that brings together evidence, experience, and empathy to support midwives and services to plan safe, evidenced based homebirth services and families in making informed, confident choices about birth.