Grace Thomas

Reader & Professional Head: Midwifery/LME

: thomassg4@cardiff.ac.uk
: +44 (0)29 225 10685
: Room 511, 5th Floor, Eastgate House, 35 - 43 Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 OAB

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.

Professional memberships

Member of Royal College of Midwives

2021

Cooke, A.et al. 2021. Exploring the STEP-uP to practice: A survey of UK lead midwives for education views of the student midwife extended practice placement during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Midwifery 101, article number: 103048. (10.1016/j.midw.2021.103048)
Renfrew, M. J.et al. 2021. Sustaining quality education and practice learning in a pandemic and beyond: ‘I have never learnt as much in my life, as quickly, ever’. Midwifery 94, article number: 102915. (10.1016/j.midw.2020.102915)

2019

Darra, S. and Thomas, G. 2019. An evaluation of the midwifery Pre-Qualifying Skills Passport in Wales. British Journal of Midwifery 27(1), pp. 26-32. (10.12968/bjom.2019.27.1.26)
Thomas, S. 2019. Wales and SW Maternity and Midwifery Festival 2018. Presented at: Wales & SW Maternity & Midwifery Festival 2018, Cardiff, United Kingdom, 20 September 2018.

2018

Thomas, G. 2018. Investing in midwifery education. Presented at: International Conference 2018 - Nurses: A Voice to Lead - Health is a Human Right, Kaunas, Lithuania, 4 May 2018.
Thomas, G. 2018. The Phoenix Project: midwifery collaboration between University of Namibia and Cardiff University. Presented at: International Confederation of Midwives Triennial Conference, Toronto Canada, 18-22 June 2017.

2016

Thomas, G. 2016. Transforming a midwifery curriculum: lessons to support midwifery education worldwide. Presented at: World Health Organistaion Collaborating Centres Biennial Conference, Glasgow, UK, 27-29 July 2016.
Darra, S.et al. 2016. Working together to implement a pre-qualifying skills passport in Wales: report of a pilot project. British Journal of Midwifery 24(7), pp. 478-483. (10.12968/bjom.2016.24.7.478)

2014

Thomas, G. 2014. Oman and Wales: a collaborative provision for midwifery education. Presented at: ICM 30th Triennial Conference. Midwives: Improving Women's Health Globally, Prague, Czech Republic, 1-5 June 2014. pp. -.

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.

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.