Kaveri Mayra is a midwifery and nursing researcher with more than ten years of experience. In her early professional years, Mayra started raising her voice against gender inequality and doctor domination in the health care sector in India. Mayra has conducted research and advocacy in nursing and midwifery governance, leadership, education, regulation, gender-based challenges, respectful maternity care, and quality of care along with NGOs such as the Academy for Nursing Studies and Women’s Empowerment Research Studies’ (ANSWERS).
“I have a couple of predictions about the near future. First, children will dream to become a midwife or a nurse when they grow up and parents will encourage and enthusiastically support their child’s dream, this won’t be stigmatized or shamed but will be considered the highest of aspirations, much like how it is considered to be a doctor or an engineer these days. Second, you will see an equal participation of midwives and nurses in health policy making. We, midwives and nurses, will be at all the tables from the frontlines of health care provision to the top tables where global health policies are being made. This will happen, 2020 has proven the worth of midwives and nurses to the world!”
Most recently, she represented the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. She has also participated in the development of the midwifery curriculum in India through ICM. While practicing as a student nurse-midwife in a tertiary level government hospital in India, she identified disrespect and abuse during childbirth. For this reason, she developed a personal passion to improve birthing experiences for women. Today, she is a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, where she is researching the drivers of disrespect and abuse during childbirth from the women’s and nurse-midwives’ experience and perspective in India.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayra has dedicated her work to amplifying the voices of nurses and midwives who are at the frontlines. She is also an advisor to the Academy for Nursing Studies and Women’s Empowerment Research Studies (ANSWERS). In addition, she is a member of the Women in Global Health India Chapter, where she has connected both institutions to organize two dialogue series to amplify the voices of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives.