I have recently joined Coventry University (Aug 2021) in a joint appointment with the University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire to establish a Centre for Care Excellence in Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health. The aim is to develop a research culture, to translate evidence into practice and to generate evidence to address gaps and needs. Over my whole career - as a researcher, in clinical practice as a midwife, through my teaching - I have been a driving force behind the development of a relational model of maternity care that sees women provided with known midwife throughout pregnancy, labour and birth and following birth to 6 weeks in Australia. This model, continuity of midwifery care, meets the preferences of women and delivers reduced rates of medical intervention, in tandem with better physical and mental health outcomes for both mother and child. The evidence shows that improved maternal and infant health has a wide-reaching positive impact on the health of the entire population, with an associated reduction in healthcare expenditure. I am Director of Transforming Maternity Care Collaborative and a former Queensland and National President of the Australian College of Midwives.