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Maeve O'Connell is a Clinical Research Midwife at UCC. She is passionate about midwifery, and keen to ensure best, evidence based practice and woman centred care for all women.

Following on from a BSc in Nursing, Maeve undertook the Postgraduate Diploma in Midwifery at Level 9. A research module was a fundamental part of the Higher Diploma at University College Cork. She developed a research proposal for a pilot sudy to examine the need for Midwifery-Led Clinics in the Cork region.

Maeve recieved a Masters in Advance Practice by Research in King's College London in 2013. She carried out a qualitative study using phenomenology to look at Midwives experience of using the Carbon Monoxide Breath Test for Smoking Cessation. This article has been accepted for publication in January 2015 in 'MIDIRS' Journal.

Maeve is currently employed as a clinical research midwife for the IMPROvED Research Study. This is a European wide Research Study whose primary aim is to develop a blood screening test for pre-eclampsia using biomarkers. This role has allowed the development of critical research skills such as recruiting of participants, gaining informed consent, data collection, data protection and confidentiality.

Maeve commenced a part time PhD this year to further develop her research skills. Her research interest is in the field of perinatal mental health, specifically, Tocophobia (fear of birth). This will be pioneering research in this area since this phenomenon has not been explored in Ireland before. Maeve hopes to have a positive influence on perinatal mental health of women in Ireland, providing an evidence base for care of women who experience Tocophobia thereby, impacting health outcomes for both mothers and children.