Soo DowneAcademic

Biography

Soo Downe OBE is Professor of Midwifery Studies at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), where she has been based since 2001. She qualified as a midwife in 1985 and worked clinically for 15 years, primarily at Derby City Hospital, before moving into academia. She leads the Research in Childbirth and Health (ReaCH) team and co-directs the THRIVE Centre, which focuses on the first 1,000 days of life. Her research centres on the nature of, and cultures around, normal (physiological) birth, maternity service quality, and equity, and she has published over 160 peer-reviewed papers. She was a co-author on three Lancet Series — Midwifery (2014), Stillbirth (2016), and Reducing Unnecessary Caesarean Section (2018) — and her team's qualitative evidence synthesis work directly shaped multiple WHO maternity care guidelines. In 2021 she was appointed Expert Advisor to the Health and Social Care Committee's Expert Panel evaluating government commitments on maternity services.

References

1. 1.Soo Downe – Academic Staff, UCLan — Current role, research group leadership (ReaCH, THRIVE Centre), and funded research portfolio at UCLan
2. 2.Influential new role for University midwifery professor – UCLan — Appointment as Expert Advisor to the Health and Social Care Committee Expert Panel on maternity services; midwife since 1985
3. 3.Soo Downe – The Conversation — UCLan since 2001; Professor of Midwifery Studies; research focus on physiological birth; Lancet Midwifery and Stillbirth Series; WHO guideline work; OBE 2011
4. 4.Soo Downe – Trinity Centre for Maternity Care Research, Trinity College Dublin — Co-authorship of three Lancet Series; WHO Technical Working Group membership; qualitative evidence synthesis contributions; WHO guideline influence
5. 5.Soo Downe visiting professor at the department of Midwifery Science – Amsterdam UMC

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Physiological (normal) birth
• Maternity care quality and safety
• WHO guideline development
• Stillbirth prevention
• Midwifery workforce and continuity of care
• Qualitative evidence synthesis

Notable achievements

• Awarded OBE for services to midwifery in 2011 Source ↗
• Appointed Expert Advisor to the Health and Social Care Committee's Expert Panel on maternity services (2021) Source ↗
• Co-author on three Lancet Series: Midwifery (2014), Stillbirth (2016), and Reducing Unnecessary Caesarean Section (2018) Source ↗
• Member of the WHO Technical Working Group for antenatal, intrapartum, uterotonic, and caesarean section guidelines; team's metasynthesis studies framed resulting WHO guidelines Source ↗
• Founded the International Normal Birth Research Conference Series Source ↗
• Has published over 160 peer-reviewed papers Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “Although freebirthing is a first choice for a few, for most it seems to be a 'least worst' option”

  senior British midwife at the University of Lancashire · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS directed pregnant women to controversial Free Birth Society via charity ↗

• “Across whole populations, going through labour and birth without professional support is associated with higher levels of risk for mother and baby”

  professor of midwifery at the University of Lancashire · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · The Guardian view on birth influencers: the public need protecting from bad advice | Editorial ↗

• “In some cases women are going for caesarean sections as a kind of least-worst option because they don't really believe they're going to have the kind of support they need to have a safe, straightforward, positive labour and birth in hospital.”

  professor of midwifery at the University of Lancashire · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Caesareans overtake natural vaginal births in England for first time, NHS data finds ↗

Source references

1. NHS directed pregnant women to controversial Free Birth Society via charitytheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. The Guardian view on birth influencers: the public need protecting from bad advice | Editorialtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. Caesareans overtake natural vaginal births in England for first time, NHS data findstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.uclan.ac.uk/academics/professor-soo-downe
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/soo-downe-20a44a6/

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.