Clinicians in the classroom: The consultant midwife

This is the third in a series of articles exploring expert clinicians’ participation in teaching pre-registration midwifery students in the classroom setting. This article will consider sessions facilitated by Carolyn Rooth, Consultant Midwife at Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The role of Consultant Midwife was first introduced in the United Kingdom in 2000 (Byrom et al., 2009) with post holders attaining key senior positions within maternity services to provide professional leadership and a senior level of clinical midwifery expertise (Coster, 2006). A key element of the role of the Consultant Midwife is education, training and development (NHS Executive, 1999). Redfern et al. have suggested that whilst these advanced practitioners are practice based, they should have a key role in creating and maintaining ‘partnerships between the NHS and local universities […] to enhance education and research functions’ (2003:154).