Deborah Fox

Associate Professor in Midwifery, University of Technology Sydney
Deborah Fox is Associate Professor in Midwifery and core member of the Collective for Midwifery, Child and Family Health at UTS. She is Co-lead of the Maridulu Budyari Gumal SPHERE Maternal and Women's Clinical Theme, Chair of the National Publicly Funded Homebirth Consortium and an Editorial Board member of the leading midwifery journal 'Women and Birth'.

The focus of her research is optimising physiological processes and positive experiences for women with complex pregnancies. The mediation of technology in midwifery practice is a key component of this work. Currently, this involves the evaluation of non-invasive fetal ECG (NIFECG) beltless and wireless fetal monitoring in labour and birth; and the social, economic and environmental impacts of telemonitoring and telehealth in pregnancy and postpartum care. Her PhD, which was attached to the Birthplace in Australia project, was a qualitative study of the processes and interactions involved in the intrapartum transfer of women to hospital from planned homebirth, drawing on theoretical perspectives from social psychology.

In addition to her PhD, A/Prof Fox holds a Bachelor of Midwifery degree from the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne) and a Master of Science in Midwifery and Women's Health (with Distinction) from the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. Currently a member of the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) NSW Branch Executive and ACM Professional Practice Advisory Group updating the ‘Birth at Home Midwifery Practice Standards’ and ‘Transfer from Planned Birth at Home Guidelines’, she also represents the ACM on the RANZCOG Intrapartum Fetal Surveillance Guideline Development Group. An innovative clinician, she collaborated with obstetric colleagues in 2011 to establish Singapore’s first caseload midwifery model, 'EMMa Care' and was instrumental in the implementation of Group Antenatal Care in Victoria.

Dr Fox has published widely in Q1 journals and has presented her research in the UK, Germany, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and Australia. She supervises Hons, Masters and PhD research students in midwifery, public health and obstetrics and gynaecology.