Yvonne Bronsky

Angela Cartwright

Forum Co-Chair

Consultant in Public Health, Registered Midwife

Angela trained in Staffordshire and qualified as a direct entry midwife in 2000. She worked in a variety of inpatient maternity areas and then took on a specialist role in infant feeding. Gaining and maintaining the International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant qualification and providing educational support for others to take the exams.

Working in the community setting provided the opportunity to develop skills and experience in other areas of women's and children's health, including safeguarding, perinatal mental health, obesity prevention and working with volunteers. Angela completed a master's degree in Public Health in 2016 and completed Specialty Public Health Training in 2020. She is currently working as a Consultant in Health Protection for UKHSA and is the Training Programme Director for Public Health at the West Midlands Deanery.

Angela is particularly interested in health inequalities, workforce wellbeing and evidence-based care.

Andrea Stebbings

Andrea is an Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth. Working first in a support worker role and then trained as a Registered General Nurse and then as a Registered Midwife she has an extensive career across clinical practice, regulation and education. She is the lead of the Professional Nurse and Midwifery Advocacy module which has been designed in accordance with NHSE guidance to promote thriving work cultures and behaviours through leadership that is responsive and compassionate.

Given all the years that she has worked in clinical practice she knows that it is safety critical that colleagues are able to work well together to provide sensitive, women-centred care and Andrea is a leader in interprofessional learning. Andrea has also sat as an independent panellist for 8 years on the NMC Fitness to Practise Committee and continues to work for the NMC as a Case Examine and is a certified expert witness for clinical negligence cases.

Sana Gul

Sana Gul is an early career nurse and current postgraduate midwifery student at the University of Birmingham. Her professional journey spans across Pakistan, Colombia, and the UK, enriching her with diverse clinical and cultural experiences. A passionate advocate for leadership development among early career nurses and midwives, Sana has played a key role in the global NursingNow Challenge initiative. She served as the Regional Lead for Eastern Mediterranean hub from 2021 to 2024, recently stepping into the position of Co-Chair.

Sana has been a vocal advocate for healthcare workers, actively participating in a World Health Organization (WHO) press event during the COVID-19, where she raised concerns about vaccine nationalism. At the 76th World Health Assembly, she presented an intervention put together by early career nurses and midwives, calling for improved working conditions for nurses and midwives globally.

Her outstanding leadership and advocacy have earned her the prestigious NursingNow Leadership Award in 2022. Recently, she was honoured with the Learner of the Year 2024 award at the Student Nursing Times Awards. In addition, Sana also represents the Royal College of Nursing Midwifery Forum as a newly elected committee member, furthering her commitment to advancing Women and Child Health.

Sana is also passionate about sharing her journey as an early career nurse and student midwife. As a 2025 Student Nursing Times Editor, she aims to highlight student midwives' experiences, challenges, and best practices in England's maternity settings while advocating for leadership development among early career nurses and midwives to inspire future generations.

Wendy Olayiwola BEM, FRSA,FRCM 

MSc Public Health, BA(Hons), RN, BSc (Hons), RM, ILM

National Maternity Lead for Equality NHS England and NHS Improvement &
Professional Midwifery Advocate in a large NHS trust.

Wendy Olayiwola has strong self-belief values, personal development, philanthropy, mentoring, supporting others, just as passionately promoting and advocating for equalities among black and minority ethnic groups.

Wendy is a registered nurse and practising midwife with more than two decades of active, fruitful and broadened years of service in the community and public health. The recognition and influence of her abilities reach, impact and touch several spheres within and outside the United Kingdom. Wendy is well seasoned in articulating and participating in diverse roles involving the hospital, community, private health, and wellbeing. She is very passionate about supporting and empowering nurses and midwives to provide culturally sensitive and holistic care for women and their families. Wendy has held various senior operational and specialist positions and project management roles in maternity. She was appointed into her current role as the National Maternity Lead for Equality NHS England in February 2021.

Wendy received her academic Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Nursing from Buckinghamshire Chiltern University UK: BSc (Hons.) Midwifery City University London, with further studies obtained a merited diploma in Management and Leadership Studies (DMS) and postgraduate (MSc) degree in Public Health at the University of East London. She is an honorary lecturer at universities on public health topics and a motivational speaker.

Wendy has co-authored articles in professional midwifery journals, including talking to men about FGM, reducing the incidence of stillbirths in black women and sustaining quality education and practice learning in a pandemic and beyond: ‘I have never learnt as much in my life, as quickly, ever’. Wendy is a member of the Nursing and Midwifery Council Equality Diversity and Inclusion Research Advisory Group and Midwifery Panel. She is the Lead midwife/co-chair of CNO CMiDO BME Strategic Advisory Group NHS England.

Wendy was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for service to the NHS and Equality during the COVID-19 response in the 2021 New Year’s Honour List. She was listed in the 2020 year of the nurse and midwife Global WHO/UN/WGH 100 outstanding women nurse and midwife leader. She is the winner of the NHS@70 women leaders Award 2018.