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Dr Hazel Keedle

Dr Hazel Keedle, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer of Midwifery at The School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University. Hazel has more than two decades of experience as a clinician in nursing and midwifery, educator and researcher. Hazel’s research interests are vaginal birth after caesarean, birth trauma and maternity experiences explored primarily using feminist mixed methodologies. Hazel's work is recognised nationally and internationally, with many invited conference and seminar presentations including academic publications and a book for women based on her PhD findings ‘Birth after Caesarean: Your Journey to a Better Birth’. Hazel is the lead researcher on the largest maternity experiences survey, The Birth Experience Study. Hazel is also the Co-Editor in Chief of The Practising Midwife Australia from All4Maternity which was launched in September 2022.

Join Dr. Hazel Keedle for a captivating keynote presentation that delves into the heart of maternity care.  Dr. Keedle will share data from the Birth Experience Study, Australia's largest survey of its kind. From the analysis of over 9,000 open text comments, Hazel will reveal women's perspectives on:
• The realities of maternity care: What are the strengths and concerns within the current system?
• Unmet needs and desires: What aspects of maternity care do women yearn for?
• A vision for the future: How can we bridge the gap between current experiences and women's aspirations?

Get ready for a thought-provoking exploration that promises to:
• Shed light on the lived experiences of mothers.
• Spark crucial conversations about birthing practices.
• Inspire action towards a more empowering and fulfilling maternity care system.

Dr Nigel Lee

Dr Nigel Lee is a midwife and senior research fellow at the University of Queensland. His passion for research is underpinned by many years of clinical experience, predominantly in labour and birth care. He has led several multicentre randomised trials and the first qualitative studies into the use of water injections for pain relief during labour. These studies have established the efficacy, safety and most effective techniques of the procedure contributing to the implementation across Australia and internationally. He has also undertaken and published research in areas such as first and second stage labour management, and strategies for reducing perineal trauma. He is the recipient of a number of research awards and grants, most recently being a NHMRC Investigator Fellowship (EL1).  Nigel's keynote presentation is titled 'Sterile Water Injections: From midwifery voodoo to (almost) accepted practice, and beyond' and will explore current research, best techniques, recent innovations, potential for the future and how developing the role of the clinician researcher now is essential for tomorrow's midwifery.

Anne Bousfield

Anne has been a midwife for 36 years and has worked in a variety of maternity and neonatal settings in Queensland and Victoria including tertiary hospitals, a free standing birth centre, and regional, rural, and remote settings. In addition to her clinical roles, Anne has spent time in the university sector as a lecturer in a Master of Midwifery Program.

Born in Mitchell in south west Queensland and growing up on a remote sheep station between Mitchell and Bollon, Anne was educated via Primary Correspondence School, and School of the Air Charleville, before attending schools in Mungallala, Mitchell and then boarding school. Growing up, she observed first hand, the difficulties that her mother and other women in remote locations experience in accessing maternity care and ongoing postnatal support.

In 2012, Anne returned to the South West to lead a team implementing Midwifery Continuity of Care models for all childbearing women across the rural and remote settings of the South West Hospital Health Service. Anne was the first midwife representing the Australian College of Midwives on the National Rural Health Alliance, and continues to be actively involved in a number of statewide initiatives, including Steering Group Committee member on the Statewide Rural Remote Clinical Network, Queensland Clinical Guidelines, and Queensland Maternal Perinatal Quality Council.

12 hours of CPD

Earlybird registration closed on 16th February.

We'd love to see you at the 'Roaring 20’s' themed Conference Dinner on Friday 3rd May! Dust off your best flapper fashion (sequins, beads, fringing, feathers!) and get ready to Charleston the night away in recognition of this incredible generation of women who pushed barriers to economic, political and sexual freedom.

Tickets are $65 per person for a two course meal.  Tickets can be purchased by adding the Conference Dinner Program Item to your registration. 

** Please note the conference dinner is currently at capacity.  You can register your interest to attend via the 'Add to Waitlist' button within your registration.  If a place becomes available, you will be notified.

Stay onsite at the conference location and benefit from a conference specific room rate at the Burke & Wills Hotel.  Use discount code ACM2024. 

Parking in the Burke & Wills Hotel carpark is limited and provided on a subject to availability basis.  All conference delegates (unless they are staying at the hotel) will be charged $20 for parking per day. 

There are council carparks located behind the hotel on Annand Street where full day parking is $9.50.

We understand that circumstances can change, however ACM has contractual commitments with venues for in person events and as such requires adequate written notice for any cancellations. From 1 January 2024, the following will apply to requests for cancellations/refunds:

Please contact [email protected] regarding any event cancellations. Refunds will only be available if written notice is provided well in advance of the event date. Please click here to read our full event cancellation terms and conditions.