Getting to Know Kaveri Mayra

The Virtual Midwife

Kaveri Mayra is a midwifery, nursing and public health researcher from India. She has over twelve years' research experience working on nursing and midwifery workforce policies and practice. Having seen mistreatment during childbirth early on as a student midwife and experienced the lack of leadership and decision making power to midwives and nurses, Kaveri started researching and advocating on these life experiences and issues.

Kaveri is a global speaker on disrespect and abuse during childbirth; nursing and midwifery governance, workforce policies and welfare; and gender-based challenges underlying all these issues.

She has spoken about these issues in conferences, through guest lectures in universities and at public events in countries including Zambia, Switzerland, USA, Argentina, England, Iceland, Wales, Canada and in many states in India. Kaveri has been recently recognized as one of the 100 outstanding global woman midwife and nurse leaders by Women in Global Health (WGH) to mark the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife 2020 in collaboration with WHO, ICN, ICM, the Nursing Now Campaign and UNFPA.

She has worked with many reputed organizations such as Oxford Policy Management Ltd., WHO, ICM, White Ribbon Alliance (WRA), Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Jhpiego and Academy for Nursing Studies and Women's Empowerment Research Studies (ANSWERS) and has consulted with central and state governments.

She is currently working as a consultant with the WHO HQ, at Geneva alongside pursuing her PhD on Global Health at the University of Southampton, UK where she is exploring the drivers and determinants of obstetric violence in India.