EXCURSIONS
– POST-EVENT EXCURSION TO VIK –
Midwifery in Iceland 4 – 13 May 2019
Iceland is a magical island humming with energy and natural phenomena that turns everyday experiences – a walk, a drive, a dip in a pool – into something that will take your breath away.
Its beauty comes from a vast volcanic landscape where mighty forces shape the earth: geysers and glooping mudflats, rumbling volcanoes swathed in ice and glaciers grinding their way through mountains. Its rich cultural life encompasses a literary legacy that stretches from medieval sagas to contemporary thrillers by way of Nobel Prize winners, as well as life, music and Nordic style.
As well as its wonderful culture and landscapes, the local people are welcoming and creative and have a progressive, egalitarian sensibility. Here, midwives are known as Ljósmóðir or ‘Mothers of Light’, which reflects the status that the midwives have always held in Iceland, where formal midwifery training first began back in 1761.
Experience the beauty and culture of this remarkable island while gaining insight into its midwifery and maternal services through a wide ranging professional programme, led by Professor Nicky Leap.
The tour has been designed to start after the 21st Congress of the Nordic Federation of Midwives in Reykjavik on 2 – 4 May 2019. You can either join the tour on its own or attend the congress as well.
Your tour leader – Professor Nicky Leap
Professor Nicky Leap is currently an Adjunct Professor of Midwifery at the University of Technology, Sydney. For more than 30 years Nicky 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 collaborative midwifery models of care in different settings and as the co-author, and as the co-author, with Billie Hunter, of ‘The Midwife’sTale: an oral history from handywoman to professional midwife’ and ’Supporting Women for Labour and Birth: a practical guide’.
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 National Health Service. She now divides her time between living in Bristol (UK) and Sydney (Australia) and enjoys any opportunity to engage in travel, particularly when it involves learning about diverse maternity care systems.
