Yvonne Kuipers
yvonne kuipers

Prof Yvonne Kuipers

Professor

Biography

Yvonne Kuipers is a Professor of Midwifery and has a background that has encompassed a career in women鈥檚 reproductive health that spans over 20 years; as an independent midwife in the Netherlands, and teaching and researching women鈥檚 reproductive health within universities in the Netherlands, Belgium and Scotland. Yvonne is a honorary professor at the University of Antwerp and she is an NMC Registered Midwife and Lecturer.

Yvonne completed her PhD in 2016 at the University of Maastricht, Netherlands. During the PhD she developed and tested an interactive tailored web-based intervention to prevent and reduce antenatal maternal distress. The intervention was effective and was later successfully adapted for Flanders, Belgium.

Yvonne her research domains include woman-centred care, midwifery models of care and women's emotional well-being throughout the transition period to motherhood. She has been awarded for the ISeeYou project, a woman-centred continuity of carer midwifery student project, for its innovative nature, at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences ("Wall of fame", 2017). The project was also the price winning research project at the International Normal Labour & Birth Research Conference (2017).

Yvonne Kuipers is a strong advocate for improving the emotional well-being of women during the transition to parenthood and the development of healthy and resilient families through research, publications, education and presenting at conferences.

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Midwifery Unit Network (MUNet)
  • EU COST 18212 Action Perinatal Mental Health and Birth-Related Trauma: maximising best practice and optimal outcomes (DEVoTION)
  • Small-sized and caseload midwifery practices
  • Concerning Maternity Network Group
  • Guideline 'Antenatal care'
  • Normal Labour & Birth
  • Scottish Woman Held Maternity Record (SWHMR)
  • Interprofessional Learning
  • Guideline 'Delayed first and second stage of labour'
  • Local protocol development

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Online seminar woman-centred care
  • CARE4 International Scientific Nursing and Midwifery Congress

 

Editorial Activity

  • Associate Editor Woman and Birth
  • Midwifery Units Standards
  • Kennispoort
  • Lancet Midwifery Series

 

External Examining/Validations

  • PhD: Credibility and Health Professional Academics - a Discursive Exploration based on Midwifery
  • PhD: COmmunity-based maternity care for women liviNg in areas of ethNic diversity and soCial disadvanTage: an intersectional approach
  • PhD: A PAR project for implementation of a midwifery unit in Italy
  • PhD: A Patient Engagement Model for Perinatal ehealth Development and Quality Assurance
  • PhD: Learning from childbirth experiences - opponent public PhD defence
  • PhD: Walking the path. Creating a framework for midwifery ethics in the United States - opponent public PhD defence
  • PhD: Getting the picture. Understanding the role of third trimester routine ultrasounds in maternal anxiety and bonding - opponent public PhD defence

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • The-all-you-need-to-know-about-continuity-of-carer-newsletter

 

Grant Funding Panel Member

  • ZonMW

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Swiss National Science Foundation

 

Invited Speaker

  • Perceived reality and subjective importance of shared decision-making during perinatal care
  • Home birth - a means to an end or an end in itself?
  • Women's traumatic childbirth experiences
  • Midwifery-led care: A mixed-methods synthesis
  • When your dream job can become a nightmare: reports of work-related traumatic events.
  • PATH PerinatAl menTal Health.
  • Black Mirror: Midwifery practice and education in Antwerp: forecasting its future with scenario planning
  • Validity and accuracy of the Whooley questions and Fear of Childbirth Scale to identify antenatal reduced emotional wellbeing.
  • Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Validity and accuracy of the Whooley questions and Fear of Childbirth Scale to identify antenatal reduced emotional wellbeing
  • PATH- Perinatal mentAl HealTH: study protocol
  • On cloud 9? Maternal emotional wellbeing 6 weeks to 1 year postpartum. A cross-sectional study in Flanders
  • Perceptions of midwives on their role in transition to parenthood 鈥 A Q-methodology study.
  • Woman-centred care - mission impossible or catch 22?
  • 鈥業SeeYou鈥: A woman-centred care education and research project in Dutch bachelor midwifery education.
  • Non-medical prescribing behaviour in midwifery practice: a mixed-methods review.
  • Listening to the voices of women with a traumatic birth experience
  • It takes a village to raise a child. PATH project.
  • Non-medical prescribing behaviour in midwifery practice: a mixed-methods review.
  • PRIME-study 鈥 Prescribing In Midwifery, women鈥檚 and midwives鈥 Experiences
  • Non-medical prescribing behaviour in midwifery practice: a mixed-methods review.
  • Dutch midwives鈥 views on and experiences with woman-centred care 鈥 A Q- methodology study
  • ISeeYou project
  • Dutch midwives鈥 views on and experiences with woman-centred care 鈥 A Q- methodology study
  • Listening to the voices of women with a traumatic birth experience 鈥 an animation 鈥淪he will always remember鈥.
  • Woman-centred care 2.0
  • MEtoWE
  • Conflicting values experienced by Dutch midwives 鈥 Dilemmas of loyalty, responsibility and selfhood.
  • Woman-centered care 2.0.: Bringing the concept into focus
  • Shared-decision making about place of birth
  • Shared-decision making about place of birth
  • Advancing the concept of woman- centred care
  • Looking over the neighbour鈥檚 fence - to learn about woman-centred care from other professions
  • A Dutch midwifery research agenda
  • Midwives鈥 perceptions of influences on their behaviour of woman-centred care
  • Applying Intervention Mapping as a framework for developing an intervention to prevent maternal distress among Dutch pregnant women
  • Factors influencing maternal distress among Dutch women with a healthy pregnancy
  • Public Health in midwife-led care: Opportunities, challenges and dilemmas in antenatal management of care for Maternal Distress
  • Dutch midwives鈥 behavioural intentions of antenatal management of maternal distress and factors influencing these intentions: an exploratory survey
  • Dutch midwives鈥 behavioural intentions of antenatal management of maternal distress and factors influencing these intentions: an exploratory survey
  • Antenatal interventions to prevent or treat maternal distress: A systematic review of Randomized Controlled Trials
  • Maternal Distress - What do midwives do?
  • Primary & secondary preventive interventions for maternal distress
  • Maternal distress- What do midwives do and what motives do they have? A two-phased exploratory study
  • Less is more

 

Media Activity

  • Women's voices about their traumatic birth experience
  • Governmental hostage of pregnant women
  • Induction of Labour BBC radio 2

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Fellow Higher Education Academy
  • NMC registration Midwife
  • Registered midwife

 

Non-executive Directorship

  • WazzUp Mama Consultancy

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Mind the Gap

 

Reviewing

  • Reviewer ENU Research Culture Fund 23/24
  • Reviewer journals

 

Spin-outs and Licences

  • WazzUp Mama

 

Visiting Positions

  • Academic House NHS Lothian
  • Professor of Midwifery
  • Honorary Senior Fellow

 

Date


85 results

Writing for publication: The basics

Journal Article
Sweet, L., Borrelli, S., Matvienko-Sikar, K., Kuipers, Y., & Fox, D. (2025)
Writing for publication: The basics. Women and Birth, 38(2), Article 101878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2025.101878
Problem: Writing for publication can be a challenging experience. Whilst midwives develop writing skills through their university education, writing a journal article can be q...

The pre-implementation process of the continuity of midwifery care research strategy: An implementation science methodologically guided initiative

Journal Article
Kuipers, Y., Aitken-Arbuckle, A., Hardie, K., Corrigan, A., Jenkins, H., & Craig, J. (2025)
The pre-implementation process of the continuity of midwifery care research strategy: An implementation science methodologically guided initiative. Evaluation and Program Planning, 110, Article 102552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2025.102552
In 2017, the continuity of midwifery care model was introduced as the way forward in Scottish maternity and neonatal services. There is no shared research strategy aligning re...

Human Communication Elements of the Continuity of Midwife Carer Newsletter: A Descriptive Case Report

Journal Article
Kuipers, Y. J., Greig, Y., & Norris, G. (2025)
Human Communication Elements of the Continuity of Midwife Carer Newsletter: A Descriptive Case Report. Creative Nursing, 31(1), 30-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/10784535241298275
Background: The Continuity of Midwife Care (CMC) model is an evidence-based care model that positively influences the health and well-being of women, their families, and midwi...

Denial of reproductive potential: a predictor of unperceived pregnancy in an Austrian neonaticide sample

Journal Article
Klier, C. M., Ina, B., Kuipers, Y., & Amon, S. (online)
Denial of reproductive potential: a predictor of unperceived pregnancy in an Austrian neonaticide sample. Archives of Women's Mental Health, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-024-01481-x
Purpose: This study aims to describe the phenomenon of unperceived pregnancy followed by neonaticide with a focus on the lack of awareness of reproductive potential in an Aus...

Perceived Reality and Subjective Importance of Shared Decision-Making During Perinatal Care

Journal Article
Kuipers, Y., Bosmans, V., De Bock, V., Van de Craen, N., & Mestdagh, E. (2024)
Perceived Reality and Subjective Importance of Shared Decision-Making During Perinatal Care. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice: An International Journal, 38(4), 504-521. https://doi.org/10.1891/rtnp-2024-0041
Aim: The aim of the study is to explore perceived reality and subjective importance of shared decision-making (SDM) during antenatal, intrapartum, and/or postpartum care, prov...

The midwife's support during transition to motherhood: A modified Delphi study among care providers and childbearing women

Journal Article
Kuipers, Y. J., Van de Craen, N., Van den Branden, L., & Mestdagh, E. (in press)
The midwife's support during transition to motherhood: A modified Delphi study among care providers and childbearing women. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.13250
Objective: To reach consensus between care providers and childbearing women about the midwife's relevant and appropriate domains and elements to support transition to motherho...

The effect of a web-based intervention on perinatal emotional wellbeing and coping: A nested case-control study

Journal Article
Kuipers, Y. J., Bleijenbergh, R., Rimaux, S., & Mestdagh, E. (2024)
The effect of a web-based intervention on perinatal emotional wellbeing and coping: A nested case-control study. Mental Health & Prevention, 33, Article 200332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2024.200332

Deferred cord clamping to improve neonatal blood values. A systematic review and meta-analysis

Journal Article
Zemouri, C., Mestdagh, E., Stiers, M., Torfs, K., & Kuipers, Y. (2024)
Deferred cord clamping to improve neonatal blood values. A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 153, Article 104718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2024.104718
Background Practices related to umbilical cord clamping at birth should be evidence-based. Deferred cord clamping, compared to immediate cord clamping, shows benefits for pret...

鈥楴aming and faming鈥 maternity care providers: A mixed-methods study

Journal Article
Kuipers, Y., De Bock, V., Van de Craen, N., & Bosmans, V. (2024)
鈥楴aming and faming鈥 maternity care providers: A mixed-methods study. Midwifery, 130, 103912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2023.103912
Background: Positive benchmarking can serve as a catalyst for maternity care improvement. Aim: To retrospectively benchmark Flemish maternity care providers鈥 qualities, base...

Op Weg Naar Sociale Inclusie. In Armoede En Ongelijkheid. Jaarboek 2023

Book Chapter
Mikolajczak-Degrauwe, K., Slimmen, S., Fontein-Kuipers, Y., & Timmermans, O. (2023)
Op Weg Naar Sociale Inclusie. In Armoede En Ongelijkheid. Jaarboek 2023. In J. Coene, T. Ghys, B. Hubeau, S. Marchal, P. Raeymaeckers, R. Remmen, 鈥. Van Regemortel (Eds.), Armoede en Ongelijkheid. Jaarboek 2023 (317-337). Leuven: Acco Uitgeverij
Mikolajczak-Degrauwe K, Slimmen S, Fontein-Kuipers Y, Timmermans O. Op weg naar sociale inclusie: effecten van een Peer Support-methodiek. In: Coen J, Ghys T, Hubeau B, Marcha...

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • eMind - eMidwifery, occupational therapy & Nursing Digitalisation
  • SwAP to Care
  • PATH - PerinAtal MenTal Health
  • ENSURE - Everybody counts
  • What's Up Mama
  • Virtual Relief
  • Midwives4Mothers Woman-midwife relationships can save lives
  • SHIFT - Sexual Health In the over FourTy-fives, with attention for menopause
  • PRIME - Prescribing In MidwifEry
  • MEtoWE - Maternal life balance during transition to parenthood
  • Ups & Downs
  • ISeeYou
  • Transition to parenthood
  • Woman-centred care
  • Promoting Healthy Pregnancy 鈥 WazzUp Mama?!

Non-Napier PhD or MSc by Research supervisions

  • Depressive symptoms and self and social stigma of partners of pregnant and postpartum women
  • PPD and the level of depression literacy and personal and perceived stigma among postpartum women
  • Mother knows best - Being a mother in your own right and perceptions
  • The needs, barriers and facilitators reported by midwives and nurses on eHealth usage
  • The effect of Virtual Reality during labour on pharmacological pain relief
  • Barriers and facilitators to implement a Midwifery Model of Care in Flanders
  • Self-efficacy and performance in digital adaptability among nurses and midwives
  • eMind: Digitial adaptability of midwives and nurses in Flanders - closing the gap
  • The effect of Virtual Reality during labour on women's pain perception
  • Depression-related stigma and depression literacy among postpartum women in the Netherlands
  • Maternal emotional wellbeing during transition to parenthood: the role of midwives during this journey
  • Women's personality, fear of birth and intention associated with intrapartum pain relief
  • Opinions of healthcare practitioners of midwife prescribingnon-medical
  • Prescribing behaviour of midwives
  • Women's experiences of midwife prescribing
  • Validation of the postpartum bonding questionnaire
  • Coping behaviour associated with pregnancy-related anxiety
  • Maternal emotional wellbeing up to one year postpartum
  • Woman-centred care reported by women in different sized practices
  • The value that midwifery students place on the birth stories