Claire Hooks

Claire has been a midwife for over 20 years, with a particular interest in women’s health, health and social inequalities and drug misuse. Her expertise is in physiology, pharmacology, substance misuse, safeguarding, medical law and ethics, interprofessional learning, research and e-learning.

[email protected]

Background

Claire trained as a midwife in 1998 following completion of a degree in Biomedical science, where she studied subjects such as physiology, reproductive physiology, pharmacology, neuroscience, neuropharmacology and toxicology. She has practised locally as a midwife in a range of settings; midwife and consultant led, with a particular interest in pregnant drug using women and the impact of health and social inequalities on women.

Claire's doctoral research used case study methodology and explored education as a tool in improving negative attitudes toward substance misusing pregnant women. Complementing her research she has previously been a volunteer recovery worker at a local drug and alcohol charity; open road, where she was involved in running a joint project with Essex probation service for women. Alongside research and research supervision, Claire has an active role in both the undergraduate and postgraduate Midwifery courses and a particular interest in inter-professional learning, where she held the role of Director of Inter-professional learning in the faculty until 2022.

Areas of Expertise:

• Health, social care and medical innovation
• Nursing and midwifery
• Education and teaching
• Public health
• Health and wellbeing
• Gender

Research interests

• Substance misuse in pregnancy
• Impact of socio-economic deprivation on maternal and infant outcomes
• Support following maternal death
• E-learning pedagogy for healthcare
• Physiological and mammalian birth
• Inter-professional learning
• Womens health
• Health inequalities and stigma
• End of Life legal decisions involving neonates

Claire’s doctoral research area looked at education in reducing stigmatisation of pregnant drug users by student midwives. During her first degree she studied reproductive physiology in depth, with a particular interest in mammalian birth and in her Masters degree her research was titled 'End of life decisions in neonates: judicial inconsistencies’.

Claire has undertaken a range of externally funded research projects - recent projects include:

• Co-designing recommendations for innovative solutions to meeting female veterans needs in physical healthcare pathways (2023-2024) – Office for Veteran Affairs Funded
• Addressing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion issues within maternity services (2022-2025) - ESNEFT Funded
• Exploration of female military veterans' experiences of charity and government service provision (2022-2023) – Office for Veteran Affairs Funded
• The feasibility of the provision of contraceptive advice and treatment by midwives, to post-natal women in their care (2018-2020) – health Education England Funded
• The impact of Advanced Clinical Practitioners in both acute and primary care contexts (2018-2019) – health Education England Funded

Areas of research supervision

• A range of Doctoral and Masters-level supervisions across education, public health and midwifery; including systematic review, primary research, data review and literature review.
• A selection of the topics supervised include; obesity in pregnancy, maternal mental health, MEOWS scoring, access to health care in developing countries, low risk midwifery care, substance use in pregnancy, maternity triage scoring systems, large lecture teaching of bioscience, seeding the microbiome, the role of the course leader, advanced midwifery practice, successful implementation of MCoC models, Equality and Diversity in Maternity.

Teaching

Teaching experience has been on a range of courses and levels since 2008, from levels 4-8.

Positions held at ARU:

• Associate Professor in Midwifery and Women’s Health
• Director of Interprofessional Learning (HEMS)
• Course Leader MSc Advanced Clinical Practice
• Course Leader MSc Advanced Midwifery Practice
• Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Qualifications

• BSc (hons) Biomedical Science (pharmacology), Kings College London, 1997
• BSc (hons) Midwifery, Anglia Ruskin University, 2001
• LLM Medical Law and Practice, Anglia Ruskin University, 2007
• PgCert Higher Education, Anglia Ruskin University, 2011
• NLS (Newborn Life Support) Provider, Resuscitation Council UK
• EdD (Educational Doctorate), 2017

Memberships, editorial boards

• RCM, Royal College of Midwives
• UCU, University and Colleges Union
• FHEA, Fellow of Higher Education Academy
• NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council, UK), Registered Midwife, 2001
• NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council, UK), Registered Teacher, 2012
• Academic Peer Reviewer; Advances in Dual Diagnosis; Midwifery; Sage; Routledge; NIHR; BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.

Selected recent publications

Walker, S.H., Hooks, C. & Blake, D. 2021. The views of postnatal women and midwives on midwives providing contraceptive advice and methods: a mixed method concurrent study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 21, 411. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-021-03895-2

Larner, L., Hooks, C., 2020. Against the grain: Midwives experiences of facilitating homebirth outside of guidelines. British Journal of Midwifery 28(6):370-376. http://doi.org/10.12968/bjom.2020.28.6.370

Hooks, S., Walker, S., 2020. An exploration of the role of Advanced Clinical Practitioners in the East of England. British Journal of nursing29(15). https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2020.29.15.864

Hooks, C., 2019. Attitudes toward substance misusing pregnant women following a specialist education programme: an exploratory case study. Midwifery. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2019.05.011

Godier, L., Ibbitson, L., Hooks., C., Fossey, M., 2019. Military spouses with deployed partners are at greater risk of poor perinatal mental health: a scoping review. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jramc-2018-001069

Hooks, C., 2018. The problems for babies born to opioid addicted mothers. The Conversation. 21st August, 2018. [Online accessed 25.1.19]  https://theconversation.com/the-problems-for-babies-born-to-opioid-addicted-mothers-101533

Hooks, C., 2015. Paranoid or Persecuted? The stigmatisation of pregnant drug users: a literature review.  The Practising Midwife Vol 18, No 1, P 14-18.

Hooks, C. and Galloway, F., 2015. A Day on the Farm. Midwives, December 2015, pp48-49. Royal College of Midwives. Redactive publishing, London.

Hooks, C., Bartholomew., 2011. Consent to student participation in treatment. In RCM.

Recent presentations and conferences

Hooks, C., Walker, S., 2022. Women with Addiction workshop with local NHS Trust and Local Government partners. EELGA (East of England Local Government Association) Equity and Equality; Making Improvements and Celebrating Successes (within Maternity and Neonatal Services) conference, Bury St Edmunds. 20th July 2022.

Hooks, C., 2022. Reducing stigmatisation of pregnant drug users; an education approach. EELGA (East of England Local Government Association) Equity and Equality; Making Improvements and Celebrating Successes (within Maternity and Neonatal Services) conference, Bury St Edmunds. 20th July 2022.

Harrison, N., Hooks, C., 2022. Learning gained from scoping the inclusion of genomics in nursing and midwifery programmes at ARU. Making a Difference: Genomics in Nursing and Midwifery. Cambridge, UK. July 13th.

Hooks, C., Walker, S., 2022. The views of women on midwifery provision of contraceptive advice and methods; a mixed method study in one region of the UK. In Maternal Care and Family Relationships theme – Cambridge University Hospitals and Cambridge University Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional Research Conference. 6th May 2022.

Hooks, C., 2017. E-Learning Pedagogy in Healthcare. Higher Education Academy Conference Generation TEF: Teaching in the Spotlight. 5-7 July, Manchester.

Hooks, C., Galloway, F., 2017. Improving Student Engagement and Retention Through Field Trips. Higher Education Academy Conference Generation TEF: Teaching in the Spotlight. 5-7 July, Manchester.

Hooks, C., 2016. Education to reduce stigmatisation of Pregnant Drug Users. Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) managing substance misuse in primary care conference. 4 November 2016, Euston, London.

Hooks, C., 2014. Paranoid or Persecuted? The plight of pregnant drug users: a review of the literature. ’We don’t want to talk about it NIPE International conference’ May 2014, Anglia Ruskin University.

Hooks, C. and Bowman, J., 2014. Substance Misuse and Mothering; what's the big issue? Interprofessional Safeguarding conference, July 2014, Anglia Ruskin University.