The department of Midwifery Science has many cooperative links both in the research world and in the field of midwifery. To start with, the department itself was formed as a joint venture of AVAG and VUmc. The researchers are accommodated in the EMGO+ Institute for Healthcare Research, part of VUmc Amsterdam. There has been close cooperation with the department of General Medical Practice at VUmc since 2012. Both departments have ample experience in the development of academic primary healthcare research.
It goes without saying that there is regular consultation with other midwifery research organizations in the Netherlands such as VUmc, AMC, UMC G
roningen, the department of Gender studies at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Quality of Life division of the Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research NIVEL, the Verloskundig Consortium (Midwifery Consortium), the Maastricht Midwifery Academy together with Maastricht University Hospital AZM, the Rotterdam Midwifery Academy together with Erasmus MC and the Netherlands Perinatal Registration Foundation.
A concrete example of recent cooperation is the setting up of the Midwifery Consortium, which aims to promote midwifery research in the Netherlands and to facilitate it wherever possible.
International cooperation
The changes in Dutch maternity care are being followed with interest in other countries, and conversely we in the Netherlands can learn a lot from the research into care models and interventions that has been performed abroad. The appointment of Eileen Hutton as endowed professor has automatically expanded the department’s horizons and stimulated cooperation with similar institutions in other countries. The department of Midwifery Science has links with various universities abroad, including
- McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (Eileen Hutton)
- University of Western Sydney, Australia (Hannah Dahlen)
- National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Oxford University, UK (Maggie Redshaw, Rachel Rowe)
Researchers also make regular trips abroad for the purposes of their studies and contribute papers to international congresses.
