Margie McCormick - Women’s Perception of Safety During Labour & Birth



Margie is an experienced midwife with extensive experience in midwifery education and leadership. Margie currently works as a Midwifery Educator, developing and facilitating multi-professional learning. Margie is completing a PhD exploring women’s perceptions of safety during labour and birth. The research aims to provide an understanding of what ‘safe’ means to women and for organisations who provide care during this important time. This knowledge is then used to put forward a series recommendations. These recommendation will be informed by the women’s voices to assist organisations to implement and monitor strategies, with the view to continually improve the safety for women.

Research suggests ‘not feeling safe’ can contribute to the development of a range of poor outcomes for women and their babies. For this reason, providing a contemporary understanding of what ‘feeling safe’ actually means for women, during labour and birth, is fundamental to improving organisational strategies aimed to achieving positive health outcomes for women and their babies.


Bashi Kumar Hazard - The Midwives’ Role in Promoting Informed Consent

Bashi Hazard is an Australian lawyer and Principal of B W Law, a legal practice for women and children, and the Chair of Human Rights in Childbirth, an international NGO dedicated to defending the human rights of women and newborns. She is currently completing a PhD examining anti-competitive behaviours in Australia’s maternity health sector. Bashi is mother to three amazing young children, teaches ethics, and grows orchids.