After completing a degree in International Relations, Holly began specialising in the health and wellbeing of women and families while working in social services from 2004.

The birth of her first child in 2005 sparked a lasting interest in parenting and birth education, nurtured through friendships formed in NCT antenatal classes. Along with having three more babies, she went on to complete Higher Education Diplomas in antenatal education and birth support, and was awarded a Masters in Child Welfare in 2007.

Holly subsequently qualified as a midwife and moved into research, completing her PhD in 2023. Her doctoral work examined midwifery input into online breastfeeding support and has generated a widely-cited series of peer-reviewed publications. Holly has presented her work at national and international conferences, winning a recent award for her public engagement work. She is a Senior Lecturer in Midwifery and Programme Director for the Certificate of Higher Education in Maternity Care at Swansea University.

The CertHE Maternity Care is the only course of its kind in Wales, with a strong widening participation focus and a remit to educate doulas, maternity support workers and future healthcare professionals. Holly’s teaching and scholarship centre on creative, ethical uses of digital innovation in midwifery education, infant feeding, and autism-informed maternity care. She supervises postgraduate and doctoral research in these areas and collaborates across disciplines to strengthen inclusive, digitally enabled learning and care.

Qualifying as a nursery nurse in 1987, Lorna has over 30 years’ experience of working with young children and their families. Lorna brings this wealth of experience to her work which made her one of the most sought-after doulas in Birmingham.

Lorna has spent the past 12 years working all over the East and West Midlands region as a birth and postnatal doula, preparing women and couples for birth and supporting them through labour and the first few weeks of life with a newborn.

The pandemic and ‘5 x More’ have meant more Black women than ever are seeking out doula support for their births. To ensure that as many Black women as possible feel supported, Lorna has created a free online community and paid membership called Black Mamas Birth Village where she offers information and support for pregnant Black women and mums of newborn babies.

The Village is a safe space for Black women to visit, sit a while and breathe whilst sharing information and tips for pregnancy, birth and beyond.

On the launch of Black Mamas Birth Village, Lorna’s goal was to welcome at least 100 Black Women into the Village. That goal has been surpassed and the Birth Village continues to grow.

As well running the Birth Village, Lorna is a doula trainer and mentor for Abuela Doulas – the UK’s 1st Black-led doula organisation.

Drawing on her lived experience as a Black woman in the UK, Lorna also delivers ‘First Steps to Anti-Racism’ workshops for birth workers.

Mary was a birth and early parenting educator for 35 years, working with parents and educators across the world. She has published more than 60 articles in popular magazines and in professional and academic journals, and has also written, edited or contributed to ten books, including ‘Home Birth: The politics of difficult choices’ and ‘Parent Education for the Critical 1000 Days’. 

In 2007, Mary was appointed the UK’s first Professor of Perinatal Education at the University of Worcester, a position which she held until her retirement in 2022. She was also Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham from 2012 to 2021.

She founded the IJBPE alongside Shona Gore in 2013 with the aim of providing a Journal that would meet the needs specifically of practitioners who are educating and supporting parents across the critical 1000 days. Mary was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal until her retirement in 2022, and Editor until 2025.

Dr Matt Price is a Clinical Psychologist with a special interest in perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationships. Matt previously led an infant mental health service in the NHS and designed national mental health policy for the Start for Life Unit in the Department of Health and Social Care in the UK.

Matt also led the strategic development and improvement of psychological services across Barnardo’s prior to joining the 1001 Critical Days Foundation as Director of Research & Grants

A Childbirth Educator for thirty years, Shona is passionate about education and support for parents in the transition to parenthood.

Following nursing at Barts and St Thomas’ in London, the births of her children kindled an interest in childbirth education, which she explored by volunteering with and working for NCT (formally the National Childbirth Trust). As a Senior NCT Tutor and New Developments Manager, Shona, in collaboration with colleagues, wrote and implemented many training courses to prepare peer supporters, health professionals and students at diploma and degree level, to work with parents.

The NCT Signature and Essentials courses were devised by her team and quality assurance was part of her role. She has led workshops throughout the UK and in Europe.

Shona was a member of the Expert Reference Group convened by the UK Department of Health (2009) to devise evidence-based, universal parent education programmes to be delivered under the title of ‘Preparation for Birth and Beyond’. Since resigning from NCT in 2016, Shona has focused on devising antenatal courses for Grandparents. She has a daughter, two sons and four grandchildren and lives in London with her husband Julian.

Siobhan Higgins is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Parent Infant Psychotherapist with extensive experience working with parents and infants in neonatal, perinatal, neurodevelopmental and early years settings. With a strong background in neurodevelopmental services, service development, evaluation and academic research, Siobhan has led on several change management initiatives and national frameworks to support parents and infants in community and critical care.

Siobhan is one of the founding members of NeoLeap (Neonatal Leads for Psychological Practice in England) and has co-authored key documents guiding national change and service development to support the emotional needs of parents and infants during a neonatal admission and after they return home. With a particular interest in promoting the voice of the infant, Siobhan’s work is rooted in the principles of trauma informed and relational practice to support parents, early years staff and systems to consider the emotional experience of vulnerable infants and families.

Professor Nurper Ülküer is a global expert in early childhood development with decades of experience in advocating for a holistic approach to early childhood development. Following her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in this area, she worked in academia and then for UNICEF, becoming a National Officer in Türkiye.

Nurper then became an Area Advisor for Child Development in Central Asia, where she worked until her appointment as Senior Global Advisor for Early Childhood Development at the New York Head Quarters of UNICEF. She is currently theHead of the Child Development Department, at Faculty of Health Science, Üsküdar University in Istanbul.

Bridget is an international speaker and an award-winning antenatal educator. Her main work is with the charity Birth Companions, as the co-ordinator for HMP Foston Hall, she works with perinatal women in prison, supporting and advocating for women through pregnancy and separation from children under two.

NCT trained, she has worked at Birmingham Women’s Hospital where she has both headed and been part of the Parent Education team for 21 years. Since 2014 she has offered workshops and resources around the infant microbiome as the founder of  ‘Your Baby’s Biome’ https://www.babysbiome.org/

She is the author of the ‘The Birthkeeper of Bethlehem: A Midwife’s Tale’. Bridget has been part of the IJBPE team since writing in the very first issue.