Indie McDowell
Medical Anthropologist and Independent Consultant Midwife
Indie is a clinically-trained midwife and classically-trained medical anthropologist with over a decade's experience in global SHRH/MNCH programme design and implementation, working for the most part in rural Ethiopia alongside a team of local Gurage clinicians to deliver community-based healthcare and women's empowerment initiatives.
She currently holds the following positions:
Executive Director
SafeHands
Managing Director
Atsede Clinic, Gurage Zone, Ethiopia
Secretary, Board of Directors
Global Alliance of Independent Midwives
International Liaison, Executive Committee
Association of Independent Midwives, Ethiopia
Indie has also published in several leading midwifery journals, and participated in GRCF-funded qualitative research projects. Her first book, With Two Souls, written with Atesde Kidane, is available from all major retailers.
Indie is also a doctoral researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropcal Medicine, focusing on compassion in low-resource maternal healthcare.
Interests
Global Maternal Health, SRH/MCH Programme Implementation, Community-Informed and Grass Roots Project Planning
As well as speaking at international conferences and events, Indie is available for consultancy services for governmental and non-governmental organisations concerned with maternal and neonatal health, particularly for those looking to design and implement new programmes of community-based and grass-roots service delivery.
She is willing to consider involvement in global maternal health anthropological/ethnographic qualitative research projects, particularly those based in Horn of Africa or eastern Africa.
Indie also offers proposal writing and editorial guidance, having successfully secured multiple grants for maternal health projects in Ethiopia, as well as clinical teaching on the importance of midwifery care cognizant about the impact traumatic birth can have on the long-term mental and physical health of women, babies, and their families.
Indie has worked closely with the Association of Independent Midwives, Ethiopia, in creating a template for establishing midwife-owned and -managed primary health care clinics in rural Ethiopia following the very successful founding of Atsede Clinic. She is keen to contribute towards the establishment of independent midwifery clinics as a model to improving access to maternal healthcare services elsewhere around the world.
Contact Me
Indie is always happy to be contacted. If you would like to send a message, please use the following form.
For queries related to With Two Souls, please contact Laura Macdougall at United Agents.