Julia Sanders

Julia qualified as a nurse in 1984 and a midwife in 1986. She has over 35 years’ clinical midwifery experience within the NHS and extensive experience in the design and conduct of maternity research.

Julia worked as a Consultant Midwife and clinical lead for Midwifery led care for over 10 years in Cardiff, leading a midwifery-led unit, and continued to work clinically until 2022. In 2017 she was appointed as Professor of Clinical Midwifery at Cardiff University.

Julia was a member of NICE guideline development groups for antenatal and intrapartum care, and is a member of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Midwifery, member of the NIHR Policy Research Unit for Maternal and Neonatal Health at Oxford University, and is a Senior Research Leader with Health and Care Research Wales.

Julia has been lead or co-investigator on grants with a value of over £20m, including funding from the NIHR, Department of Health (England), charities and industry. Julia led the £1.1m NIHR funded POOL study investigating the safety of waterbirth for mothers and babies using routine NHS data.

Julia’s research has direct clinical focus on the safety and quality of maternity care. Research areas include the evaluation of implementation of Midwifery Continuity of Carer in England (SIMCA study); Understanding and improving the quality of fetal surveillance in labour using intermittent auscultation, (Listen2baby study), Care improvement during postpartum haemorrhage, (OBS UK); and Peer support for breastfeeding mothers, (ABA FEED).

As Senior Clinical Fellow at NHS England Julia led the Immediate and Essential Action of the Ockenden Report reviewing the evidence base of the Birthrate Plus tool used to calculate the establishments of Midwives and Maternity Support Workers across the NHS in England.

Since 2007 Julia has acted as an independent Midwifery expert witness writing over 100 reports.