Maxine V. Chapman

Maxine is the interim Programme lead for the MSci Midwifery with Leadership programme, Equity and Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Lead for the School of Healthcare and the co-lead for EDI for the College of Life Sciences at the University of Leicester.

Her vision as an educator is to empower the Future Midwives to be leaders of change in current maternity provision to ensure that health disparities are reduced.

Maxine qualified midwife and nurse, and practised as a midwife for 15 years working with women and their families promoting and facilitating homebirths and advocating for informed choice before moving into full time education in 2015.

The move into education enabled her to share her passion, knowledge and expertise and to inspire and nurture students to understand the art and privilege that is Midwifery practice. Maxine is passionate about delivering a high-quality student learning experience and ensures that her teaching is informed by evidence, contemporary research and innovative pedagogical activities aimed at cultivating the ability of students to engage in critical discourse, contemporary research and make application of theory to practice at all levels of the programme.

I am part of a team that secured funding from University of Leicester Institute for Inclusivity in Higher Education (ULIHE) Inclusion Development Fund for 2022-23, to undertake evaluative research to identify inequities in student admissions process and deliver recommendations to alleviate them.

I have worked with colleagues to write about undertaking physical examinations on people with a darker skin tone to raise awareness of the typical euro-centricity focus that has existed in the education and training of health professionals over many centuries.

Raynor, M., Essat. Z., Ménage, D,. Chapman, M,. and Gregory, B., (2021) Decolonising Midwifery Education Part 1: How Colour Aware Are You When Assessing Women with Darker Skin Tones in Midwifery Practice?

Ménage, D,. Chapman, M,. Raynor, M., Essat . Z., and Wells, R. (2021) Decolonising Midwifery Education Part Two: Neonatal assessment. 

I currently teach across the midwifery and nursing MSci Leadership programmes. I am module lead for; Year 2 Practice module; Year 3 Leadership – Leading in organisations and Year 4 - Leading the management of change.

I am an external examiner for a post registration midwifery programme at Swansea University.

I am an active member of the following;

• Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) with current registration as nurse-(February 1996) and registered midwife- (December 2001)
• AFHEA (Associate Fellow Higher Education Academy (2019)
• Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Steering group for decolonising midwifery education toolkit (2022)
• NHS England- Workforce, training and education directorate, South East England Region- Global ethnic majority student experience steering group (2022)
• University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) Terms and reference group- Improving maternity access for BME women (2023)
• University of Leicester (UoL) Multi ethnicity committee; UoL Women’s staff forum (2022)
• Peer reviewer for the Practising Midwife Journal

Royal College of Midwives 2023 Unsung Hero category for Midwives or Higher Education staff from a BME background, that acknowledges my effort to champion quality, diversity and inclusion alongside culturally sensitive working practices and high standards for all service users. I was among a team of people who helped to develop a ‘decolonising midwifery education toolkit’ with the RCM to address inequity in health education.

Royal College of Midwives – May 2023 Midwife from Leicester celebrated by RCM for her work to make the midwifery curriculum equal for all.

Nominated for University of Leicester’s Citizens Awards 2023 in the category of Inclusivity Champion.

• Inclusion in curriculum and practice
• Leadership in midwifery and nursing

• BBC News – May 2023 University of Leicester midwifery lecturer honoured for equality work
• BBC Radio Leicester Podcast - June 2023 It’s a privilege to be a midwife with a woman at that time
• Royal College of Midwives – May 2023 Midwife from Leicester celebrated by RCM for her work to make the midwifery curriculum equal for all
• Royal College of Midwives – Podcast April 2023. Education, education, education

• MSc Advanced Professional Practice (2019) University of Northampton
• Nursing and Midwifery Council – Registered Teacher (2018)
• AFHEA (Associate Fellow Higher Education Academy) (2018)
• BSc Hons Midwifery (BSc) (Shortened course) (2001) De Montfort University
• Diploma of Higher Education in Adult Nursing (1999) De Montfort University