Prof Soo Downe | Midwifery, compassion and challenging the system

Watch the Humans of Clinical Academia series:    • Humans of Clinical Academia   Hear honest career stories from clinicians who combine healthcare practice with research. This episode features Professor Soo Downe OBE, whose research has reshaped how we think about pregnancy and birth. For decades Soo has asked what good maternity care actually looks like, championing physiological birth, compassion and kindness as clinical concerns rather than soft extras, and questioning intervention that does not serve women and families. Alongside a large body of research spanning ethnography, trials and international survey work, she has helped shape global thinking on maternity care through her work at the University of Central Lancashire and beyond. Join us as we trace Soo's path from clinical midwife to internationally recognised researcher, discussing where her commitment to women's experiences came from, what it has cost to challenge the medicalisation of childbirth, and the moments when system change felt out of reach. Soo also shares candid reflections on staying true to your values inside academia, what clinicians most often misunderstand about research, and why midwifery needs more of its own people asking the questions. NEXT VIDEO Midwife to Researcher: How to Get Started:    • Midwife to Researcher: How to Get Started ...   Manchester Catalys supports non-medical registered healthcare professionals at MFT or The University of Manchester with one-to-one research advice, career-stage networks, and weekly funding and training updates. Monthly research seminars are open to everyone. Learn more: https://mft.nhs.uk/research/mancheste... Contact: catalys@manchester.ac.uk Subscribe:    / @manchestercatalys   #HumansOfClinicalAcademia #MidwiferyResearch #ClinicalAcademia #HealthcareResearch #ManchesterCatalys