Shauna Gnanapragasam
Shauna qualified as a Registered Adult Nurse in 1993 and as a Midwife in 1999. She has extensive clinical experience across a range of maternity settings in the North East of England and later in Cambridge, where she relocated in 2008. Her professional interests include clinical skills development, equitable access to midwifery education, and supporting students from diverse backgrounds to achieve successful outcomes.
Twitter: @shaunaac_shauna
- Faculty:
- Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care
- School:
- School of Midwifery and Community Health
- Location:
- Cambridge
- Areas of Expertise:
- Nursing and midwifery
- Background
Shauna has a long-standing commitment to teaching and supporting learners. After many years in clinical practice, she joined a large teaching hospital’s Practice Development team in 2014, where she supported students, junior staff, and multidisciplinary colleagues in developing confidence in evidence‑based midwifery practice. Since 2015, she has worked in Higher Education as both a Clinical Skills Tutor and Senior Lecturer in Midwifery.
Shauna completed her Professional Doctorate in Education with a thesis titled: Factors affecting success in a midwifery education degree: an exploration of the influence of entry qualification and ethnicity. Her doctoral research builds on her wider interest in widening participation, student progression, and the structural factors that influence achievement in midwifery programmes. She also holds an MSc in Advanced Midwifery Practice, where she conducted a qualitative study exploring the experiences of midwives caring for mothers who misuse substances in pregnancy.
- Research interests
-
- Widening participation in midwifery education
- The influence of ethnicity and entry qualifications on academic outcomes
- Student progression and retention
- Experiences of midwives supporting women with complex social needs
- Teaching
-
- BSc (Hons) Midwifery – all fields of midwifery education
- Clinical skills development
- Evidence‑based practice
- Qualifications
-
- Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) – Anglia Ruskin University
- MSc Advanced Midwifery Practice – Anglia Ruskin University
- Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning (Higher Education) – Anglia Ruskin University
- BSc (Hons) Midwifery – University of Northumbria at Newcastle
- RN Diploma of Nursing – University of Northumbria at Newcastle
- Memberships, editorial boards
-
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Qualified Teacher Status
- Selected recent publications
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Downie, F., Noot, J, L and Gnanapragasam, S., (2026). Caesarean section wound care: The current picture in one UK region. Wounds UK. 22 (1) 33-37.
Gnanapragasam, S., (2024). The influence of ethnicity on assessments and academic progression in a midwifery degree. British Journal of Midwifery. 32(2), 58–63.
Gnanapragasam, S., (2024). Ethnicity and Academic Success in a Pre‑Registration Midwifery Education Programme. The Practising Midwife. 27(2), 22–26.
Gnanapragasam, S., (2023). The influence of route of entry on a pre‑registration midwifery education programme. The Practising Midwife. 26(2), 26–30.
Gnanapragasam, S., & Wallis‑Redworth, M. (2017). Neonatal Drug Administration and Neonatal Capillary Blood Sampling. In Midwifery Skills at a Glance. Wiley.
- Recent presentations and conferences
-
Gnanapragasam, S. 2022. The influence of route of entry on academic achievements and attrition in a Pre-registration Midwifery Higher Education Programme. University of Hertfordshire, HSK Research Conference 2022. Awarded First Prize.