Deborah Davis, Professor

Professor Davis came to the ACT to take up the role of Clinical Chair in Midwifery with the University of Canberra and ACT Government Health Directorate in 2011. Previous to that she had a similar role with the University of Technology, Sydney and South East Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Service and had also spent many enjoyable years working as a midwife and midwifery lecturer in New Zealand.

Professor Davis has worked as a privately practicing midwife in Australia and New Zealand providing care to women choosing both home and hospital births.  She  is active in the profession, serving several terms on the Board of the Australian College of Midwives,  and currently co-chairing the Research Standing Committee of the International Confederation of Midwives.

Areas of Teaching

Professor Davis teaches into the undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery programs mainly foucsing on topics related to research. She enjoys supervising Bachelor of Midwifery Honours, Masters and Doctoral research students. 

Research Interests

Professor Davis has a number of research interests that cohere around central themes of wellness, physiological birth and midwifery led care.  She is interested in salutogenic theory and has designed and evaluated a number of interventions using this theory. She is interested in midwifery led interventions that enhance the wellness or experience of childbearing women and their family inlcuidng those that assist women to have a healthy weight gain in pregnancy.