India Noakes

Background

Before becoming a midwife, I completed a BSc in Psychology with a focus on the antenatal bond and individual caregiving responses in first-time mothers. This pathway led me to complete a BSc in midwifery at Kings College London at the Florence Nightingale school of Nursing and Midwifery, where I qualified as a midwife in 2017. I have worked in both the hospital and community settings, with my core clinical work as a midwife based in intrapartum care at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where I worked in high-risk intrapartum settings. During this time, I completed an MSc in Nutrition with a focus on maternal nutrition and public health.

Following my MSc, I became interested in research within maternity and its function to shape and improve outcomes for mothers and babies. I have worked as a research midwife at both Homerton University Hospital and Imperial College London, where I currently work part-time as a lead research midwife on a small portfolio of studies.

Role

I joined the NDWRH in late 2022 to support Professor Antoniya Georgieva in the Oxford Labour Monitoring (OLM) team. My main role is to facilitate research within the OLM, where the specialist team develops data-driven cardiotocography (CTG) systems/software to assess fetal wellbeing in pregnancy and at the onset of and during term labour, with the hope of reducing the incidence of brain injuries, perinatal deaths, and unnecessary interventions. I am the lead midwife supporting the exciting new Wellcome LEAP In-Utero program.