Robin Cronin
Through her doctoral research in obstetrics and gynaecology, Robin has become a published author, public speaker, teacher, traveller, and member of an international research team.
“As a midwife, I see the everyday impact of the care that we provide on mothers, babies and their whānau. The opportunity to contribute to the evidence that informs midwifery practice, with potential to improve outcomes for mothers and their unborn babies, was the main driver for enrolling in a PhD.
“Doing my PhD study with the School of Medicine has given me so much more than I could ever have anticipated. I’ve become a published author in high-quality research journals, a public speaker presenting my research at keynote scientific meetings, a teacher of evidence-based practice, an overseas traveller to international perinatal conferences and an expert on my topic. Most importantly, I’ve become a member of an international team of researchers, clinicians and consumers who are contributing to research that is supporting the reduction in the loss of babies’ lives from stillbirth.
The most important finding from my PhD is that pregnant women who go to sleep on their side (either left or right side) from 28 weeks halve their risk of stillbirth compared with going-to-sleep on their back, and that this information applies to all pregnant women.
“The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology continues to produce ground-breaking globally acclaimed research on the association of late stillbirth and pregnancy sleep position. It was an honour to be accepted for a PhD with Professor Lesley McCowan as my supervisor, who is a world leader this field.”