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Ms. Margaret Dunlea

Assistant Professor (School of Nursing & Midwifery)
DOLIER STREET - SCHOOL OF NURSING
      
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Ms. Margaret Dunlea

Assistant Professor (School of Nursing & Midwifery)
DOLIER STREET - SCHOOL OF NURSING

 mdunlea@tcd.ie

 3531896 4080


Margaret Dunlea PhD, M.Sc. Midwifery Education, B.Sc. Anthropology, RM, RGN,RNMH is an Assistant Professor in Midwifery in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) (2006-present). She is an experienced midwife with expertise in both hospital and community settings in the UK and Middle East and more recently in Ireland. This has proved invaluable in her current role in Midwifery student education. On returning to Ireland in 1998, she undertook a Masters in Midwifery Education at University College Dublin (2001-2003). She has also completed a B.Sc. in Anthropology in University College London in 1997. Her research activities include undergraduate and postgraduate student research supervision, with a particular interest in all matters concerning maternity care, using qualitative methodologies and informed by critical sociological theories. Her doctoral thesis was an institutional ethnography of change and entrenchment in the Irish maternity services with a particular focus on women's and healthcare provider's lived experience of antenatal care. She believes that all midwife's need to be political and is now actively involved in campaigning for improvements in the Irish maternity services.
  MIDWIFERY   MIDWIFERY EDUCATION   MIDWIVES
Project Title
 Change and entrenchment in Irish maternity care policies and antenatal practices: An Institutional Ethnography
From
2012
To
2021
Summary
I used a critical institutional ethnography with a feminist perspective, framed by Dorothy Smith, drawing on Foucault's critique of power/knowledge. This reflects a critical interpretive ontology and epistemology which assumes that realities are socially constructed, context-specific and relational. How the biomedical model is perpetuated, the broader organizational and institutional processes embedded in power relations that impact its perpetuation, and how this in turn impacts childbearing women's experiences were explored. A central finding was a strong resistance to change from what is currently a dominant, highly interventionist, biomedical model of care, despite mounting evidence supporting alternative models of care. My research findings, therefore, are crucial to a better understanding of why the maternity service are so resistant to change. It is hoped that by raising awareness of my research findings and making these institutional processes, that often remain unknown visible among policy makers, healthcare providers, childbearing women and midwifery students, it may offer a means to successfully bring about whole systems change in the provision of the maternity services in Ireland, at both national policy and legislation level and local practitioner level. Revisions are just completed and dissemination of findings has begun.
Funding Agency
Stipent TCD
Project Type
PhD
Project Title
 From "Mastership" to Active Management of Labor: The Culture of Irish Obstetrics and Obstetricians
From
2021
To
2022
Summary
The book chapter explores why male-oriented authority, widely accepted in 1950s Ireland, continues to dominate the organisation and provision of maternity services today. The authors argue that medical entrenchment of maternity care is linked to the shift from home to hospital birth, and this in turn is linked to the introduction of state-run maternity services with The Maternity and Child Health Services Regulations (1953). Following the legacy of male-orientated authoritative knowledge embedded in 1950s Ireland, the Irish state has continued to fully accepts obstetric authority, as the sole authority on maternity care, despite major changes in the status of women In Ireland. The 1953 Act was operationalised as the Combined Care Scheme (Health Act 1970), and prioritised hospital obstetric care over community midwife/GP based home birth. Publicly funded maternity services continue to limit midwifery autonomy while allowing private obstetric care to flourish within the same complexes of the 19 publicly funded maternity units across the country. The recent call from elite obstetricians in the voluntary hospitals to expand the Mastership governance structures to all maternity hospitals across the country, exemplifies their motivation to protect their vested interests, in the face of alternative models of maternity care emerging, that might challenge their hierarchal position within these state-run institutional structures.
Project Type
Book chapter
Project Title
 Survey of staff and students' experiences of breastfeeding facilities in Trinity College University (TCD) Campus
From
2022
To
2023
Summary
The Government of Ireland passed a Health and Wellbeing (Workplace Wellbeing) Bill in 2015. Subsequently the Healthy Trinity initiative was commenced, and it was decided to embed health into all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations, student and staff services. Trinity is a Breastfeeding Friendly Campus and supports breastfeeding as a normal way to feed babies. Breastfeeding rooms were established across college in 2017. It is now time t evaluate these services. what is proposed is an online survey where participants will receive an email from the Secretary to college (Staff) and the TCDSU (students) with a link to the survey. The research aim is to survey the experiences of staff and students in using breastfeeding facilities on TCD Campus
Funding Agency
no
Project Type
Athena Swan Project
Person Months
5
Project Title
 VISITING PROFESSORS FUND
From
4/10/2022
To
5/10/2022
Summary
I support the successful application to assist in financing the cost of a visit from Lactation consultant, speaker and creator of innovative breastfeeding education, Nancy Mohrbacher. Her mission is to simplify life for new families, many of whom--without realizing it--make breastfeeding more complicated than it needs to be. Prof Mohrbacher is a leading lactation consultant in the greater Chicago area (USA) with expertise in lactation. In 2008 the International Lactation Consultant Association officially recognized Nancy's contributions to the field of lactation by awarding her the designation FILCA (Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant Association). Nancy Mohrbacher was one of the first group of 16 to be recognized for their lifetime achievements in breastfeeding. She co-authored all three editions of The Breastfeeding Answer Book, a research-based counselling guide that sold more than 130,000 copies internationally. Her 'Natural Breastfeeding Professional Package' provides digital resources for professionals for staff training and one-on-one work with families. What is proposed is a two-day conference Including Public lecture, master class and workshop on laid back breastfeeding and biological nurturing, art exhibition in the long room hub, visit to the Book of Kells. The conference dates will coincide with National Breast feeding week.
Funding Agency
TCD Visiting Professor Fund
Person Months
2
Project Title
 Pregnant people's partners or support persons views and experienced of maternity care during COVID-19: a qualitative evidence synthesis
From
2022
To
2023
Summary
we are currently in the process of registering our proposed qualitative evidence synthesis. A search strategy will be conducted using PICO and PRISMA research tools. This will be followed with thematic analysis and findings.
Project Type
Quantitative Evidence Synthesis
Person Months
5

Page 1 of 3
Details Date
Founding member of The Elephant Collective: A national campaign for legislative changes that culminated with the passing into law of the Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019 making all maternal deaths subject to a mandatory public inquest. 2013
Midwifery Associate of Ireland Committee Member 2019
Education Officer of Midwives Section of Irish Nursing and Midwifery Association (INMO) 2022
Membership of the All Ireland Society for Higher Education (AISHE). 2011- 2022
Working Party Member for the National Review of Undergraduate Nursing and Midwifery Degree Programmes (DHC) 2012
Member of Health Forum on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). 2007-2008
Involvement in Consultancy process: 2007-Review of Maternity and Gynaecology Care Services (KPMG on behalf of NHS) 2007
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Details Date From Date To
Midwifery Association of Ireland (MAI) 2018 2022
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) 1998 present
Irish Nursing and Midwifery Organisation (INMO) 1998 2022
All-Ireland Midwifery-led Unit (MLU)/Care Network 2022 2022
Trinity Centre for Maternity Care Research 2021 2022
INMO representative of the International Conference of Midwives (ICM) - Regional Professional Committees 2022 2022
From "Mastership" to Active Management of Labor: The Culture of Irish Obstetrics and Obstetricians. in, editor(s)Robbie Davis-Floyd and Ashish Premkumar , The Anthropology of Obstetrics and Obstetricians: The Practice, Maintenance, and Reproduction of a Biomedical Profession, Volume II Cognition, Risk, and Responsibility in Obstetrics: Anthropological Analyses and Critiques of Obstetricians' Practices., New York, Berghahn Books., 2022, [Margaret Dunlea], Book Chapter, IN_PRESS
Ohaja M., Murphy-Lawless J. Dunlea M., Midwives' views of traditional birth attendants within formal healthcare in Nigeria., Women and Birth , Vol 33, (No. 2), 2020, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Ohaja M, Murphy Lawless J and Dunlea M., Religion and Spirituality in Pregnancy and Birth: The Views of Birth Practitioners in Southeast Nigeria , Religion , 10, (82), 2019, p1 - 10, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Ohaja M., Murphy-Lawless J. Dunlea M., Spiritual and Religious Aspects of Pregnancy and Birth in Nigeria: Women's Perspectives. , Health and Social Care Chaplaincy, Vol. 7, (No. 2), 2019, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Ohaja M, Murphy-Lawless J & Dunlea M., Birth Space in Nigeria: a site of conflict,, Old Tension, Emerging Paradoxes in Health: Rights, Knowledge and Trust, ISTE Lisbon, Portuga, 6-8 June 2018, 2018, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Ohaja M, Murphy-Lawless J, Dunlea M., Spiritual and Religious Aspects of Pregnancy and Birth in Nigeria , Spirituality at a Crossroads, Trinity College Dublin , 20-21 June , 2018, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Dunlea M, Murphy-Lawless J, Ohaja M. , The nature and impact of risk discourse in the provision of antenatal care: A literature review, Risks of Childbirth in Historical Perspective (AHRC funded network), University of Leeds , 29th March 2017, 2017, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Ohaja M, Murphy-Lawless J and Dunlea M, Cultural safety: Construction of risk in the context of safe motherhood in Nigeria, Risk in Childbirth In Historical Perspective (AHRC Funded Network), University of Brighton , 06072017, 2017, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Cowman T and Dunlea M, Perineal Repair by Midwives in Ireland: A National Survey of Skills Knowledge and Experience, Normal labour and Birth Conference, Grange over Sands in the English Lake District, 15th to 17th June, 2015, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Dunlea M, Brady V, Begley C, Murphy-Lawless J. , An exploration of the meaning of the first antenatal encounter from the perspective of service user and provider. , OPTIMISE2014 Conference: Optimising Childbirth across Europe: An interdisciplinary maternity care conference., Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, 9 &10 April 2014, 2014, pp53 - 54, Notes: [ http://programme.exordo.com/optimise2014/#presentation/113], Conference Paper, PUBLISHED  URL
  

Page 1 of 2
Vivienne Brady, Ashamole Clive, Deirdre Daly, Margaret Dunlea, Louise Gallagher, Patricia Hughes, Felicity Kalu, Elizabeth Newnham, Colm O'Boyle, Magdalena Ohaja, and Jeannine Webster, Readers' blog: Natural birth is not an 'elitist' philosophy, The Irish examiner, (June 8th ), 2018, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Vivienne Brady, Ashamole Clive, Deirdre Daly, Margaret Dunlea, Louise Gallagher, Patricia Hughes, Felicity Kalu, Elizabeth Newnham, Colm O'Boyle, Magdalena Ohaja, and Jeannine Webster, 'We need maternity care providers who respect women and who listen to women', The Irish Times, (Jun 2nd ), 2018, Journal Article, PUBLISHED

  


Award Date
Research Stipend. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin 2012
TCD Centre for Academic Practice and eLearning (CAPSL) €500.00 for publication 2011
RCSI 24th Annual International Nursing and Midwifery Conference Greatest Potential Contribution for Nursing/Midwifery/Midwifery Practice 2005
My research interests are 1. The history of and continued development of the midwifery profession 2. Student learning and assessment 3. The provision of evidenced-based, community midwife-led maternity care in the Irish setting. My PhD was an institutional ethnography that focus on change and entrenchment in the Irish maternity services. A central finding was a strong resistance to change from what is currently a dominant, highly interventionist, biomedical model of care, despite mounting evidence supporting alternative models of care. How the biomedical model is perpetuated, the broader organizational and institutional processes embedded in power relations that impact its perpetuation, and how this in turn impacts childbearing women's experiences were explored. My research findings, therefore, are crucial to a better understanding of why the maternity service are so resistant to change. It is hoped that by raising awareness of my research findings and making these institutional processes, that often remain unknown visible among policy makers, healthcare providers, childbearing women and midwifery students, it may offer a means to successfully bring about whole systems change in the provision of the maternity services in Ireland, at both national policy and legislation level and local practitioner level. Crucial to campaigning for change is forging alliances with childbearing women, maternity care activists, politicians, leaders in healthcare, the Department of Health and the HSE, lawyers, and other stakeholders to drive the message of reform and influence maternity policy decision making. This is already happening. So, while I will disseminate my finding in national and international conferences and peer reviewed journals, I will also send a user-friendly and accessible summary of my key findings to our public representatives in the Dail, to childbearing women using maternity care activist groups, antenatal education leaflets and social media platforms, to midwives and doctors using their professional associations, professional journals and conferences. Future research projects will focus on the politics of birth and the implementation of evidence based change with a particular focus on the campaign to develop Birthing Centres/Midwife-Led Units in our 19 maternity hospitals, as recommended in the National Maternity Strategy (HSE 2016). Research into barriers and facilitators for implementing women-centred community midwifery models of care and how best these can be tackled is also required. Research is also needed on how healthcare providers can best protect physiological birth. To this end, with the help of a TCD Stipend and/or HRB funding, I hope to supervise students at Masters and/or PhD level, who want to pursue research in this area. I am to present an oral paper at the RCM/INMO All Ireland Midwifery Conference in November 2022. I have also submitted an abstract to The International Normal Labour and Birth Research Conference due to take place in Denmark in September 2022. I also intend to submit an abstract to the SNM TCD Conference (March 2023) and RCSI (March 2023). A book chapter entitled From "Mastership" to Active Management of Labor: The Culture of Irish Obstetrics and Obstetricians is currently with the printers. I am also currently involved in 3 research undertakings. 1. Midwifery students' experiences of learning during the pandemic. 2. TCD Staff and students' experiences of using the breast feeding rooms on Campus (Athena Swan initiative). 3. Birth partners experiences of using the maternity services during the pandemic: A qualitative evidence synthesis.