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Shawn Walker
Shawn Walker

Dr Shawn Walker

Senior Research Fellow and Clinical academic midwife

Research interests

  • Healthcare
  • Public health
  • Midwifery
  • Nursing

Biography

Shawn is a clinical academic midwife. Methodologically, she is interested in clinical trials in perinatal care and the development of complex interventions. She has recently completed an NIHR Advanced Fellowship (2020-2024), conducting feasibility work for a trial of OptiBreech collaborative care (https://optibreech.uk/). This research focuses on how to improve the safety of vaginal breech birth using the OptiBreech physiological breech birth algorithm, dedicated clinics and specialist teams.

Shawn has worked in all midwifery settings - home, freestanding and alongside midwifery units and obstetric units. Her PhD research arose out of advocacy work with service users, seeking to improve the care pathway for women with breech-presenting babies and working closely with my obstetric, anaesthetic and neonatal colleagues to do this. It focused on the question: How can clinicians learn to safely deliver breech babies in the current maternity care context, given minimal opportunities to attend breech births?

From 2012-2014, Shawn pioneered the clinical role of Breech Specialist Midwife at James Paget University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, a small unit with 2000 births per year in Norfolk. Approximately 1:20 women who used this service transferred in from other hospitals due to unmet demand elsewhere. This has continued through the OptiBreech work, demonstrating the significant demand within the UK for skilled physiological breech birth care.

Out of her research, Shawn developed and evaluated a physiological breech birth training programme that is now delivered to over 2000 health care professionals globally each year via the Royal College of Gynaecologists and through a not-for-profit company, of which she is the Director, Breech Birth Network CIC (breechbirth.org.uk). In addition to at least 20 NHS Trusts and Ambulance Services who use her evidence-based teaching materials in mandatory training, her publications on PBB methods are referenced as key sources in midwifery breech training programmes. This training programme is the only vaginal breech birth training programme to have published associated outcome data and to have demonstrated a significant behavioural change post-training.

Other projects include a detailed time-to-event video analysis project using 42 films of upright breech births, to further inform timelines of what is considered ‘safe’ in a vaginal breech birth (Reitter and Walker, 2019). This project informed the development of a decision-making algorithm of manoeuvres and timings already transforming practice in obstetric units where PBB is practised, in the UK, North America and Europe. This algorithm is currently being evaluated for its value in predicting adverse outcomes in a case-control study.

Shawn also works clinically as an Honorary Consultant Midwife and holds honorary contracts at multiple London Trusts to support complex physiological births when the teams require breech expertise.

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    Dr Shawn Walker shares her views for International Day of the Midwife 2020

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      News

      Five articles to read for LGBTQ+ History Month

      Discover five articles from the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care to read as part of LGBTQ+ History Month.

      Rainbow flag

      Faculty staff win awards for their outstanding achievements

      Congratulations to our staff who have won and been shortlisted for awards this month.

      Group of people

      New algorithm to increase breech birth safety

      Designed to help practitioners deliver breech babies more safely and offer more choice to women.

      New born baby lying in a cot

      Features

      King's celebrates Pride

      As Pride Month 2020 draws to a close, we’re celebrating each other and our LGBTQ+ community here and around the world!

      King's at Pride 2018

      Research as Leadership

      Dr Shawn Walker shares her views for International Day of the Midwife 2020

      newborn-legs-black-white-1800x500