A/ProfAllison Cummins

Allison is a Co-Director for the Centre for Midwifery Child and Family Health, a research centre dedicated to improving the health of childbearing women, children, young people and families through leadership in midwifery, child and family health research, education, practice development and consultancy. Allison's research interests include the introduction and support for midwifery continuity of care models (where a known and trusted midwife provides care to a mother during pregnancy), and birth and the early parenting period.

Allison is the coordinator for the Higher Degree by Research Students in the School of Nursing and Midwifery within the Faculty of Health. She supervises Masters and PhD research students in midwifery and public health. I have a demonstrated ability to attract and support quality research students to completion.

As a senior lecturer in midwifery she teaches both in the undergraduate and post-graduate midwifery programs at UTS. Allison successfully led the midwifery teaching team to win a teaching and learning award in 2019 and has developed a number of teaching and learning grants with publications listed below. The reacreditation of three midwifery programs are currently being led by Allison and are due for submission in July 2021.

Allison is an Associate Editor of the midwifery journal “Women and Birth International” (WOMBI) that publishes relevant research on all matters that affect women and birth. WOMBI is ranked the number 1 midwifery journal in the world and the 10th for nursing and midwifery by Clarivate Analytics.

As a Midwifery Director on the Board for the Australian College of Midwives, the peak professional body for midwives, Allison influences policy and the recognition of midwives and the profession of midwifery.

Internationally, Allison is a member of the Trans Tasman Midwifery Education Consortium and the Quality Maternal Newborn Care Alliance. Both these groups conduct research and inform policy in an International context.

My research in midwifery models of care and graduate midwife transitions has resulted in publications in high ranking journals, book chapters and I have co-edited an international book on midwifery graduate transitions. I have been an invited keynote presenter and presented at twelve national and international peer reviewed conferences and recently won a UTS award for distilling research with impact.

You can read more about Allison's research here:
https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/centre-midwifery-child-and-family-health/research/research-projects/midwifery-led-continuity-care-models