Jane Rooney

Profile

Biography

I am a registered midwife and have worked clinically across different midwifery areas both in the UK and Internationally.   I trained as a direct entry midwife gaining a first class honours degree from Manchester University, and worked as a rotational staff midwife at Trafford General Hospital.   Following this I then moved to a role as an enhanced midwife (vulnerable women), then became team leader of the enhanced midwifery team at Liverpool Women’s hospital.   I then spent time at LJMU with my core role as a senior lecturer in midwifery, whilst carrying out additional roles: BFI Lead, Admissions Tutor, Programme Lead Undergraduate Midwifery and a Faculty role as International Mobility Coordinator.   During this time I also worked clinically at LWH in a specialist antenatal clinic for women whose first language is not English (Link Clinic), where I have an honorary contract.   I now lead the Department of Children’s Nursing and Midwifery, and also am the School of Nursing & Midwifery Lead for Apprenticeships, CPD and KE.   I have a strategic remit for for Midwifery Education, including the role of the Lead Midwife for Education (LME), with an overall remit of management and strategic focus.    

Research Interests

My doctoral work focussed on: “Negation in the Childbearing Continuum: An In-Depth Exploration of Women’s Narratives in the UK”.   The study used qualitative methods – narrative approach and methodology – to explore the stories of women who either concealed their childbearing or did not know they were pregnant – known as negated childbearing.   I have presented my data and findings locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, and have ongoing dissemination planned.   My broader research interests span qualitative methodologies, especially narrative and use of creative methods in research, maternal and women’s health, public health and maternity/midwifery, midwifery and the use of stories, storytelling and poetry in research, and the application and use of social media for data collection.   Additionally I have contributed to research on midwifery and nutrition, and muslim women’s expereinces of maternity care. 

I have a broad range of roles and work aligned to research activity, including: peer review for the British Journal of Midwifery, and member of the Editorial Board.   Single author of a book chapter on communication in public health midwifery, in the book Communication in midwifery: theory and practice.   Active membership of the University Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC), which considers and reviews all health related ethics applications for research across the institution (until 2024). 

Teaching

I have a broad teaching remit and have expereince of teaching midwives, nurses, paramedics and other health professionals, although my main area of expertise is midwifery and maternity teaching.   My teaching interests include: research (qualitative methods, ethics), vulnerable women and families, public health and maternity, professional issues, safeguarding, perinatal mental health and global midwifery.

I have led the development of the midwifery curriculum (2021) to support the changing role of midwives, and the fulfillment of the the new NMC Midwifery Standards for pre registration midwifery education.    Additionally I led the design and development of L7 CPD modules for Children’s Nursing, delivered in partnership with Alder Hey Hospital, focussing on paediatric intensive and high dependancy care.    In 2025 I gained senior fellowship of Advance HE (D3 SFHEA), through evidencing leadership work at Edge Hill. 

Current projects in teaching and learning focus on the pilot use of poetry as an alternative method to collect student feedback, and amplify the student voice for nursing students, and a poetry workshiop for student midwives around recognition and understanding of resilience for student midwives.