Ms Alice Craggs

I am a Lecturer in Midwifery in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at London South Bank University, having joined the academic team in 2024. I am an NMC-registered Midwife and continue to maintain active clinical engagement, bringing contemporary practice experience into my teaching and student support.

I have a wide range of post-qualification midwifery experience in two inner London NHS Trusts including specialist maternal medicine services, birth centre care, community midwifery, and specialist caseloading for women and birthing people with complex social needs.

Specialist skills

Public policy: My first degree was in politics which has led to a longstanding interest in public policy and in 2023 I was awarded a Green Healthcare Leadership fellowship by the Florence Nightingale Foundation. The pilot project looked at ways to raise awareness of sustainability in maternity care through the reduction of single use infant feeding bottles.

Professional wellbeing: I am a qualified Professional Midwifery Advocate (PMA) and am committed to supporting the wellbeing, professional development and career progression of both students and midwives. As such, my teaching philosophy is centred on creating psychologically safe and inclusive learning environments that enable students to develop reflective practice and build professional resilience.

Evidence-informed practice: My experience of using research evidence in my role as a maternal medicine specialist midwife and from my own systematic review dissertation of trauma-informed care interventions for survivors of sexual violence helps to embed evidence-informed practice across all my teaching. I am part of the systematic review board in the College of Health and Life Sciences that reviews student dissertation proposals.

Advanced Midwifery Practice: I am qualified in Newborn and Infant Physical Examination (NIPE); a practice assessor and supervisor; and as a maternal medicine specialist I developed training for midwives in the management of diabetes and epilepsy; as a perinatal mental health midwife I developed materials for midwives on how to have challenging conversations around safeguarding.

Audit: I worked with the Continuous Improvement Team at an NHS Trust on a project to improve birth outcomes which entailed the analysis and interpretation of various datasets including breastfeeding rates among women with diabetes and smoking rates at 36 weeks as determined by CO2 monitoring.

Enterprise and innovation

Another focus of my work to bridge study into clinical practice is developing the skills needed for current practice in an environment that is psychologically safe and reflective. Using the advanced simulation facilities and models at LSBU, I have developed ways to help students with hands-on skills such as neonatal resuscitation, catheterisation, and suturing. My experience in obstetric emergencies has enabled me to use the high-fidelity mannikins to teach postpartum haemorrhage and shoulder dystocia. I have advanced training in Newborn Life Support and can offer students the gold standard of resuscitation training.

Citizenship, Administration, Management and Leadership

Cohort Lead, Recruitment Lead and Admissions Tutor for undergraduate programme including open days, Link Lecturer for two hospital Trusts, Academic Assessor and Personal Tutor, member of the systematic review board.

Teaching and Learning

Module Lead [Altered Maternal Health, Childbearing and the Midwife; The Newborn Infant: assessment and management of additional care needs]; Professional Midwifery Advocacy for all cohorts; teaching NIPE standards to all students; training in advanced newborn life support including airway management techniques and umbilical vein catheterisation; safeguarding in midwifery practice and policy; contemporary practice issues; obstetric and neonatal emergencies.