Apply for an Iolanthe Midwives Award to help you fund professional education or a project that helps to improve midwifery practice
2024 Applications are now closed
About the Iolanthe Midwives Awards
Each year, the Iolanthe Midwifery Trusts grants a number of financial awards to midwives. Funding is available for midwifery-based projects and plans and will lead to improvements in care through practice, education, research or management studies. Each application is judged on its individual merits.
- Awarded annually
- Available for midwives registered with the UK NMC
- Maximum award available £1,500
- Black and Brown midwives can apply for a Dora Opoku Midwives Award at the same time
Is your project eligible?
These awards are made to enable midwives to undergo self-development or training, to undertake research or to make improvements to local services.
This could include:
- Training courses to develop specialist skills
- Travel to conferences, either as an attendee or to share research findings
- Developing services to pregnant women/birthing persons in a local hospital or in the community
- Assistance with academic fees for Masters or PhD studies
- Organising study days for local midwives
- Undertaking research which will benefit midwives or women/birthing persons, babies and/or families
See What do we fund? for more information
Applications are made online. Please read the Application Guidance (link above or see our general video guidance) and our Privacy Policy carefully before applying.
2024 winners
Maria Velo Higueras, a Midwifery Lecturer at Robert Gordon University, whose award will support her engagement with service users, birth workers, and midwives as part of her PhD study “A feminist mixed-methods exploration of UK midwives’ attitudes and experiences on freebirth”.
Amy Lewis, a Perinatal Mental Health Midwife at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, who will use her funding to undertake the Perinatal Mental Health Postgraduate Module at Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, to support her specialist role.
Zoi Vardavaki, Senior Midwifery Lecturer at London South Bank University, who will use her funding to pursue her PhD research: "MiROG - Midwifery Research on Out of Guidance birth choices Clinics and services: a mixed method study" at the University of Hertfordshire.
Alix Aitken-Arbuckle, Clinical Academic Senior Midwife with NHS Lothian/Edinburgh Napier University, who will use her award to purse a Cultural Change in Maternity Services project, including the development of Midwifery Advocate roles to support positive cultural change within the workplace.
Claire Parkin, Clinical Supervisor for Midwives and Royal College of Midwives Learning Representative at Singleton Hospital, who will use her funds to offer a Biomechanics for Birth Professionals workshop to her midwifery team, enabling midwives to embed a biomechanics focus in their care of birthing families.
Kirsty Smith, a Midwife and aquanatal teacher with Lorn and Islands Hospital, Oban, whose Award will fund swimming pool hire, enabling her to offer free aquanatal classes to pregnant women in her rural community.
2023 winners
Adeyemi Johnson, an Undergraduate Teaching Fellow/Perineal clinic midwife at Croyden University Hospital, whose award will support her Masters research into the experience of women with perineal wound infections who access a hospital based perineal clinic.
Emilie Edwards, a midwifery lecturer at Middlesex University, will use her funding to undertake the Calibre Leadership Programme at Imperial College London, to support her advocacy role for Neurodivergent people in Higher Education Institutions and the NHS.
Hannah King, Birth Suite Leader at East Lancashire Hospital Trust, will use her funding to provide a Human Rights in Birth study day for her colleagues, covering reproductive justice and a rights-based approach to care delivery.
Katie Heath, Assistant Service Manager for Maternity and Neonates at East Lothian NHS, will use her award to offer a Biomechanics for Birth Professionals workshop to her colleagues, aiming to embed a biomechanics focus in supporting women and birthing people with challenging labours.
Leonie Wintercrane, a community midwife with North Bristol NHS Trust, who will use her funds to improve accessible antenatal education for Migrant women, by creating a set of translated resources that will assist midwives to provide women with vital information about pregnancy, childbirth and looking after their babies.
Rebecca Heorton, Safeguarding Midwife at Guys and St Thomas' Foundation Trust, will use her award to fund the final year of her MSC in Advanced Child Protection.
2022 winners
Kelda Folliard, of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the University of East Anglia, who will put her funding towards completing her fourth year of her Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Care.
Mary Lynch, of Southmead Hospital, Bristol, who will use her award to take the "Essential Knowledge for Obstetric Medicine Short Course", Kings College Hospital, London.
Kate Mackay, of Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS, who will use her funding to create trauma informed and culturally safe antenatal education for birthing people in the immigration system.
Emma Booth, who will use her award to offer 20 part-funded places for Bronglais Hospital's midwives on Sara Wickham’s virtual course exploring evidence surrounding induction of labour and woman-centred planning.
Zahra Khan, of King's College, London, who will put her award towards her Life Course Science PhD in Health Inequalities.
Nora Seager-Wilkendorf, who works at Royal United Hospital's Birthing Centre in Bath, and will put her funding towards completing RCM-accredited Birth Trauma Resolution Practitioner Training.
Amina Hatia, of London North West NHS and Tommy's Baby Charity, who will be completing a Diploma In Clinical and Pastoral Counselling.
Jenny Cunningham, who is taking her doctorate at Kingston University London, and will present a poster on understanding weight stigma and its impact on women's experiences of maternity care, at the International Weight Stigma Conference 2022.
Jenise Jarvis, who will use her award to put on a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women's Pregnancy Support Network Study Day for her colleagues at Bart's NHS Trust.
Nichola Bainbridge, who will use her funding to put on two "LGBT+ Competency in Birth and Beyond" online workshops for 25 of her colleagues at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
