Nicky Leap

For almost 40 years, Professor Nicky Leap has had a variety of roles in midwifery practice, education and research. She has published widely and is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences. Nicky is well known for her work supporting the development of midwifery models of care in both the UK and Australia.

Nicky grew up in the West Country in England where she was involved in setting up and promoting Women’s Aid Refuges. She became a National Childbirth Trust teacher in the 1970s and was a youth and community worker in London before training to be a midwife. In the 1990s, while living in South East London, Nicky was a member of the first group of self-employed midwives to contract into the NHS.

Nicky is co-author with Billie Hunter of the highly acclaimed textbook: Supporting Women for Labour and Birth: A Thoughtful Guide and The Midwife’s Tale: an oral history from handywoman to professional midwife. She is a member of the Australian College of Midwives Midwifery History group and has a strong interest in researching the lives of midwives and the women they attended in bygone days.