The case of fetal monitoring in labour: What is the research evidence?

Professor Steer is a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and Professor Emeritus at Imperial College London, based at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He was President of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine from 1996 to 1999 and President of the Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine from 2008 to 2009. He was Editor-in-Chief of BJOG (an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology) from 2005-2012, and is currently editor emeritus. He is an editor of ‘High Risk Pregnancy – Management Options’, with the fifth edition published in 2018 by Cambridge University Press, who also in 2016 published the second edition of ‘Heart Disease in Pregnancy’ that he edits with Prof Michael Gatzoulis. He is an honorary fellow of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologist of South Africa and an honorary member of the American Gynecological & Obstetrical Society for whom he gave the Joseph Price oration in Chicago in 2017.

Dr Small is a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist, educator, writer and researcher. As a feminist, she is critical of the patriarchal values embedded in healthcare systems. Her vision is to promote and protect respectful maternity care for women, babies, families, and care providers through education and research. Her research focus is on intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring and inter-professional power in maternity care.

Billie Hunter CBE is the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Professor of Midwifery at Cardiff University, Wales, UK, and Director of a WHO Collaborating Centre for Midwifery Development. A Fellow of the RCM, she holds Visiting Chairs at Surrey and Nottingham Universities in the UK and is Adjunct Professor at University of Technology Sydney, Australia.

Billie has been a midwife since 1979, working in UK NHS, voluntary sector and independent midwifery settings, before moving into education and research in 1996. Billie is well known internationally for her research into culture, emotions and relationships in maternity care, and she has published widely. Her aim is to improve care for women and their families by better understanding midwifery work and supporting midwives. Her research projects include studies of midwives’ emotions and resilience, including leading the UK WHELM study of midwives’ emotional wellbeing.

In 2016, Billie became the Director of a new WHO Collaborating Centre for Midwifery Development at Cardiff University, one of only 2 centres globally that have a unique focus on midwifery. The Collaborating Centre supports WHO in its activities to strengthen midwifery

education and practice globally. Billie is involved in a number of WHO advisory groups, as well as co-leading the Midwifery Network within the Global Network of Nursing and Midwifery Collaborating Centres.

Billie was awarded a CBE in June 2018 in recognition of her services to midwifery and midwifery education in the UK and Europe.