Mrs. Shelley Macmillan
Lecturer, Midwifery
Campus
Biography
Shelley Macmillan is a lecturer in Midwifery in the Institute of Health and Wellbeing. She has a background in midwifery and nursing across Australia and the United Kingdom. Her interests include informed and individualised maternity care, antenatal education, physiological birth, perinatal mental health and therapeutic communication strategies to optimise maternity care experiences and outcomes.
Before joining Federation University in 2022, Shelley worked as a clinical midwife specialist at Latrobe Regional Health. Earlier roles within the National Health Service (NHS) include caseload homebirth midwife at Leeds NHS Trust and rotational midwife with United Lincolnshire NHS Trust. Her nursing experience spans perioperative care and tissue viability. She has held positions at the Royal Marsden NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital and was a tissue viability clinical nurse educator with Smith & Nephew.
Shelley is Chair of the Australian College of Midwives Gippsland Branch and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for The Practising Midwife (Australian edition). Her teaching and research focus on reflective and evidence‑informed midwifery practice, the role of empathy in maternity care, and improving support for women experiencing perinatal mental health challenges.
A qualified hypnobirthing instructor and childbirth educator, Shelley advocates for the integration of complementary therapies alongside routine, evidence‑based maternity care.
More about Shelley
Qualifications
- Graduate Certificate of Education (Tertiary Education), Federation University
- Graduate Certificate of Mental Health, La Trobe University
- Master of Science (Midwifery), University of Hull (UK)
- Diploma of Hypnobirthing, KG (UK)
- Certificate III, Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector, City & Guilds (UK)
- Bachelor of Nursing, Avondale University
Areas of interest
- Perinatal mental health
- Educational strategies to support student midwife confidence and attainment of graduate capabilities, particularly related to emotional wellbeing and creative expression
- Midwife-led continuity of care models
- The role of empathy and compassion in maternity care
- Understanding the intersecting elements of physiology, positioning, mobility and psychosocial safety in spontaneous vaginal birth
- Pre-registration midwifery education
Areas of expertise
Shelley has expertise in perinatal mental health, midwifery practice and the integration of evidence‑informed, physiological approaches to birth. Her professional experience includes developing educational strategies that strengthen student midwife confidence and support the attainment of graduate capabilities, particularly those related to emotional wellbeing. Additional expertise spans midwife‑led continuity of care models, empathetic and compassionate communication within maternity services.
Awards
- IHW Excellence Award (Midwifery)
- Pre-registration midwifery
- Perinatal and infant mental health
Specialist roles
- Institute of Health & Wellbeing Interprofessional Education Committee
- Institute of Health & Wellbeing Simulation Committee
Professional association memberships
- Australian College of Midwives (Gippsland Sub-branch Chair)
- Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Research Group (PIMHRG)