ESNEFT partners
Marie Alexander
Marie began training as a mental health nurse in 1994 at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, based at Ipswich Hospital. Following graduation in 1997, she worked in several hospital and community roles before moving into clinical education in 2010.
She transitioned back into clinical services in 2015, holding senior leadership roles including General Manager for adult and specialist mental health with Cambridge and Peterborough Foundation Trust.
In 2019 Marie moved to Health Education England (HEE) as Regional Senior Nurse, a role that provided an opportunity to work on system, region, and national footprints and to lead a number of workstreams including RePAIR, Retention, Mental Health and (during the first wave of Covid) Health and Wellbeing.
Marie then moved from HEE to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, working as part of the Divisional Leadership Team in Clinical Support Services.
Most recently, Marie has taken up a new role with ESNEFT as Associate Chief Nurse for Education and Research, with a portfolio that includes all nursing, midwifery and allied health professional learners, Advanced Clinical Practice, and the development of clinical academic roles. She is undertaking a Professional Doctorate with University of Essex.
Cat Cracknell
Cat began her career as a midwife at Ipswich Hospital in 2015 after training at the University of Bedfordshire. She has specialised in perinatal mental health, low risk midwifery care and community midwifery for families with additional and complex needs.
She has been a Professional Midwifery Advocate since 2018 and has recently taken on the role of Lead Professional Midwifery Advocate across ESNEFT.
Cat has Level 2 and 3 qualifications in Counselling, and is passionate about supporting birthing people and staff, and helping them to understand and maintain their mental health and wellbeing.
Cat is often a guest lecturer and has spoken at conferences. Outside of work, she is a trustee for a charity which supports birth mothers whose children live outside of their care.
Andrea Tuckwell
Andrea has worked in the NHS & the private sector for 28 years. She is dual qualified as a nurse and a midwife and has undertaken post graduate studies to enhance her knowledge, skills, and personal development.
Her professional background includes working as a Ward Sister, Supervisor of Midwives, Professional Midwifery Advocate (PMA), Crisis Pregnancy Counsellor, Birth Trauma Debrief Clinic & Antenatal Team Lead, Maternity Bleep holder, Vaccination hub nurse, Governance/Audit midwife & Maternal Medicine Specialist Midwife.
Andrea remains committed to women’s health is a Specialist Midwifery Sister, supporting pregnant women with underlying complex health conditions and has facilitated learning and additional skill acquisition for midwives in this area.
As a PMA, Andrea has been actively involved in pastoral welfare and engaging in supportive conversations in the workplace. She will use her knowledge and experience in her role as the project Research Co-ordinator to build links between academic and practice colleagues and promote the research throughout the Trust.
