Stephen has been a practicing midwife for 23 years, gaining both nursing and senior midwifery managerial experience within women's health, across several NHS Trusts in both the North and South of England. He has a MSc in Professional Leadership in Healthcare and a BSc (Hons) degree in Health related sciences. His understandings of the developments of midwifery practice are attributed to his extensive clinical, academic, managerial, teaching and leadership experiences. He is currently undertaking a part time PhD at the University of Manchester. His interests are related to safety within maternity care.