Skip to main content
Grace Thomas

Ms Grace Thomas

Head of Health Professions: Lead Midwife in Education

School of Healthcare Sciences

Email
ThomasSG4@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29225 10685

Overview

I am a Reader in Midwifery at the School of Healthcare Sciences. My role is Lead Midwife for Education and Professional Head of Midwifery Education and I am the Deputy Director of our World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Midwifery Development – one of only 2 such centres for Midwifery globally.

I co-authored the WHO Midwifery Assessment Tool for Education (MATE) published by WHO in May 2020: who.int/en/health-topics/Health-systems/nursing-and-midwifery/news/news/2020/5/new-who-tool-helps-countries-plan-for-a-strengthened-midwifery-workforce

I joined Cardiff University as a full-time academic in 2013, having worked in a number of senior clinical midwifery roles, including as Consultant Midwife for 10 years. The focus of all my work is to keep the woman, newborn baby and family central to all care and to share evidence-based knowledge. I aim to guide and enable all students, through dynamic and innovative education, to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to safely support women to achieve a positive birth experience, regardless of the type of birth. I lead the Midwifery Education Team and we won the Team of the Year Award at the Midwifery & Maternity Festival in 2018.

I was a member of the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) Future Midwife Thought Leadership Group to develop new standards of proficiency for midwives (NMC, 2019) and one of three UK Midwives selected to lead a project and finalisation group.

I am Deputy Chair of Lead Midwife for Education (LME) UK Strategic Reference Group and was appointed as Trustee to the Board of the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust in 2020. I have presented nationally and internationally.

Publication

2022

2021

2019

2018

2016

2014

Articles

Conferences

Research

  • Editorial Board Member of European   Journal of Midwifery.
  • Expert Reviewer   for NIHR Health   Technology Assessment Programme - Clinical Evaluation & Trials. 2016   & 2018.
  • Scientific Panel   Reviewer for   International Confederation of Midwives and European Midwives Association.
  • Honorary Research Lead for Midwifery at the National Centre for   Mental Health (NCMH) since 2014.
  • Past Chair of All Wales Midwifery & Reproductive Health Research   Forum.
  • Principal   Investigator for   Healthy Eating and Lifestyle in Pregnancy (HELP) Trial led by South East   Wales Trials Unit (SEWTU), Cardiff University 2011- 2013.
  • Referee for Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth group 2011.
  • Joint lead   researcher on Mapping   Maternity Care & Outcomes in Wales project (funded by Royal College of   Midwives) 2009-2010.
  • Joint lead   applicant for   Medicines & Midwives (MaM) project. £10K grant from CELT 2009-2010.

Conference presentations (since 2014):

  • Invited plenary speaker: HSE West-Midwest   Nursing and Midwifery Research & Innovation Conference, Limerick Ireland.   February 2020. Sharing the Art: Global   and Local Midwifery Developments
  • Invited panel member, moderator & oral   presentation: European   Midwives Association Education Conference, Malmo, Sweden, November 2019. How does a WHO Collaborating Centre for   Midwifery Development support education? MATE: Midwifery Assessment Tool for   Education.
  • Invited speaker: International   Maternity Exposition, London. November 2019. Collaborating to Improve Midwifery Education in Eastern Europe:   Developing the WHO Midwifery Assessment Tool for Education (MATE).  
  • Invited plenary speaker: Royal College of   Midwives St David’s Day Conference, Cardiff. March 2019. World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Midwifery   Development; supporting midwifery education.
  • Midwifery &   Maternity Festival, Cardiff. September 2018. Supporting Midwifery across Europe. Cardiff University World Health   Organisation Collaborating Centre for Midwifery Development.
  • Invited plenary   speaker:   International Conference 2018 - Nurses:   A Voice to Lead – Health is a Human Right, Kaunas Lithuania. May 2018.   Investing in Midwifery Education.
  • Invited speaker: World Health Organisation   Collaborating Centres Global meeting in Cairns, Australia, July 2018. The Midwifery Assessment Tool for   Education (MATE).
  • Invited speaker: Welsh Government Conference,   Cardiff. November 2017. Better Together   A new vision for maternity services in Wales. Educating a workforce for the future.
  • International Congress of Midwives Triennial Conference in Toronto,   June 2017. Oral presentation: The   Phoenix Midwifery Project.
  • Interprofessional Education and Practice Conference September 2016.   Poster presentation: EP Metcalf, S Zaher, P Kinnersley, G Thomas, E-M Parker Inter-professional communication skills   teaching for undergraduate midwifery and medical students.
  • World Health Organisation Collaborating Centres (WHOCC) Conference,   Glasgow July 2016. Oral presentation: Transforming   a Midwifery Curriculum: lessons to support midwifery education worldwide.
  • World Health Organisation Collaborating Centres (WHOCC) Conference,   Glasgow July 2016. Oral presentation: The   Phoenix Project: midwifery collaboration between University of Namibia and   Cardiff University.
  • Invited speaker: RCM Wales Spring   Conference, Cardiff. April 2015. Oral presentation: The importance of language in care.
  • RCM Annual Conference,   Telford. November 2014. Oral presentation: No health without mental health.
  • Marcé International   Conference, Swansea. September 2014. Oral presentation: No health without mental health.
  • International   Confederation of Midwives Congress, Prague. June 2014. Oral presentation: Oman and Wales: a collaborative provision   for midwifery education.

Teaching

I currently lead two modules on the Bachelor of Midwifery (Hons) programme and contribute to all other modules. My teaching expertise lies within the promotion of normal birth and public health related to midwifery, health promotion, perinatal mental health, leadership and current strategic issues within maternity care.

I am leading the development of a new Future Midwife Cardiff 24 (FMC24) midwifery curriculum in the School. I was a member of the NMC Thought Leadership Group for the development of the new Future Midwife standards (NMC, 2019) and one of 4 UK midwives on the writing and finalisation group led by Prof Mary Renfrew.

I have spent time in Oman teaching on a Community Health BSc programme, I led a Midwifery education and simulation project as part of Cardiff University Phoenix Project in Namibia and have undertaken work in Malta on the promotion of normal birth.

I was recipient of the RCM Excellence in Midwifery Education Award in 2011 for the development of an innovative interactive workshop on medicines administration in midwifery (MaM workshop).

I jointly led the development of an on-line / DVD Learning Module for Midwives on Perinatal Mental Health on behalf of the All Wales Perinatal Mental Health Group. http://www.beatingbipolar.org/perinataltraining/

I am External Examiner at City, University of London and University of Limerick.

Biography

Professional memberships

Member of Royal College of Midwives

NMC Chief Executive Officer and Chief Nursing Officer visit the School of Healthcare Sciences

NMC Chief Executive Officer and Chief Nursing Officer visit the School of Healthcare Sciences

04 May 2022

Midwife and educator whose work has had ‘global impact’ receives national honour

Midwife and educator whose work has had ‘global impact’ receives national honour

16 March 2021

Success for Midwifery team

Success for Midwifery team

03 October 2018