In the Pacific, I have walked alongside local midwives and other healthcare workers implementing and supporting sustainable health systems that continue to improve outcomes for women, their newborns, and families, in both hospital and community settings.  I have been involved in many projects over the past decade. Some have provided technical and clinical support, data collation and analysis, development of practice guidelines, and preparing comprehensive reports for stakeholders and agencies while always respecting the cultural context. My core work in the Pacific was in Vanuatu, where I spent 7 years, and I continue to work in an advisory role, supporting midwifery graduands and other healthcare providers. In 2016, bilateral funding enabled the development of a midwifery school with students achieving Level 7 qualification. This was the first local training at this level. Working alongside local midwifery teaching staff, the graduands positively strengthened the midwifery workforce and ensured the survival of many mama and pikinini.

More recently, I was contracted by World Vision to develop community education and raining resource to strengthen knowledge around sexual and reproductive health, disaster preparedness, incorporating disabilities. Development, consultation and training of trainers has resulted in the successful roll out of ‘Knowing ME’ into communities.

I have a passion for capturing some of my experiences using non-fiction narrative

Current Projects:
Delivering effective Interprofessional Education for medical and midwifery students: Completing the pilot study of a collaborative model of educational delivery (joint project with University of Otago Wellington) and findings are being published. A second pilot study, with a different educational output, commenced in 2026.