Elizabeth (Liz) Newnham is Associate Professor of Midwifery at Flinders University and a Fellow of the Australian College of Midwives. Over a 25-year career spanning clinical midwifery, academic leadership, research collaboration and theory development, she is internationally recognised for her work on humanising birth and advancing social justice in maternity care.

With a distinctive program of work focused on transforming the conditions in which birth takes place, her scholarship is organised around four intersecting research streams—ethics, technology, environment and practice—each addressing structural and relational factors that shape experiences of childbirth and midwifery practice. Dr. Newnham has published extensively across these areas in leading journals, edited collections and professional publications. She is a sought‑after speaker and has delivered invited lectures and keynotes across Europe, the US, the UK and Australia.

Academic leadership includes curriculum development, postgraduate supervision, and contributions to national and international committees shaping midwifery education, ethics and policy. Dr. Newnham’s work is grounded in a commitment to equity, relational care and transformational reimagining of maternity systems.

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and pregnancy and childbirth: An Interpretive phenomenological approach (Newcastle University - primary). 

Women's knowledge and awareness of the risk of venous thromboembolism during pregnancy and the postpartum period in Al-Jouf City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Newcastle University - co-supervisor). 

Understanding the pedagogy of Continuity of Care Experiences within pre-registration midwifery education: A critical feminist approach (Newcastle University - co-supervisor). 

Women’s experiences of maternity care from an ethical perspective: a participatory social justice project: exploring the care ethics paradigm for ethical midwifery care (ECU - co-supervisor). 

Determining respectful maternity care in Nepal: a mixed-methods study (Griffith University - co-supervisor). 

Women’s lived experiences of access to alternative birth options in contemporary Ireland (Trinity College Dublin - adjunct supervisor). 

Qualitative and critical methodologies; midwifery philosophy and practice; ethics

• Childbirth culture and politics 
• Midwifery philosophy and practice
• Care ethics
• Social justice