Dr. Colm Oboyle
Assistant Professor, School of Nursing & Midwifery
Biography
Colm trained as a nurse in Belfast City Hospital after completing a BSc in Botany and Genetics at Queens University Belfast. He worked as a nurse in James' Hospital Dublin in various general medical and surgical areas before returning to Belfast to undertake Midwifery education at the Northern Ireland college of Midwifery and in the Jubilee Maternity Hospital. There he worked in all midwifery areas but mostly in Delivery Suite. He completed an MSc in Midwifery before travelling to work in Malawi (SE Africa) as nurse /midwife teacher. He gained considerable teaching experience and midwifery experience in normal, twin and breech delivery. On return from Africa, Colm took up a midwifery teacher position in the Rotunda Hospital where he worked for 4 years and completed a PG Diploma in Clinical Health Science Education. In September 2004 he was seconded to TCD as lecturer in Midwifery where he is now Assistant Professor of Midwifery. He has taught on and co-ordinated various courses including the Bachelor of Midwifery Studies, BSc Midwifery, PG Dip Midwifery and Masters in Midwifery Practice and Leadership. In 2006 he won HRB funding for his doctoral study into Independent midwifery and home birth in Ireland and he graduated in 2010. From 2006 until 2012 Colm undertook to provide support for women seeking home births in the Dublin area. Colm's continuing postdoctoral interest is in capacity building for community midwifery and home birth in Irleand.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Colm OBoyle, The context and consequences of professional indemnification of home birth midwifery in Ireland., International Journal of Childbirth , 4, (1), 2014, p39 - 54
Daly D., Brady., V Oboyle C., Cusack C., Clive A., Power F. and Eustace-Cook J., Evidence to inform the development of innovative midwifery led postnatal services for women in the SouthEast region of Ireland, NMPDU, November , 2022, p1 - 100
Colm OBoyle, 'Being with' while retaining and asserting professional midwifery power and authority in home birth. , Journal of Organisational Ethnography , 3, (2), 2014, p204 - 223
Writing of one's own culture An auto-ethnography of home birth midwifery in Ireland in, editor(s)Fiona Dykes and Renée Flacking , Ethnographic Research in Maternal and Child Health, Oxford, Routledge , 2015, pp53 - 72, [OBoyle, C]
OBoyle, C, Deliberately unassisted birth in Ireland: Understanding choice in Irish Maternity Services, British Journal of Midwifery, 24, (3), 2016, p181 - 187
OBoyle, Colm , 'Just waiting to be hauled over the coals': Home birth midwifery in Ireland, Midwifery, 29, (8), 2013, p988 - 995
Colm OBoyle, An Ethnography of Independent Midwifery in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, 2009
Eileen Kenny, Colm OBoyle, An exploration of the unmet demand for home birth in Ireland., International Journal of Childbirth, 5, (1), 2015, p20 - 32
Begley CM, OBoyle C, Carroll M, Devane D. , Educating advanced midwife practitioners: a collaborative venture, Journal of Nursing Management , 15, (6), 2007, p574 - 584
Gallagher L, Lawler D, Brady V, OBoyle C, Deasy A, Muldoon K, An evaluation of the appropriateness and effectiveness of structured reflection for midwifery students in Ireland, Nurse Education in Practice, 22, 2017, p7 - 14
Spirituality in Childbirth in, editor(s)Timmins, F. Caldeira, S. , Spirituality in Healthcare, Paris, Springer Nature, 2019, pp83 - 96, [OBoyle, Brady Vivienne ]
Fay, Zara., OBoyle, Colm , How specialist palliative care nurses identify patients with existential distress and manage their needs , International Journal of PAlliative Nursing , 25, (5), 2019, p233 - 243
Devane D, Begley CM, Clarke M, Horey D, OBoyle C, Evaluating Maternity Care: A Core set of Outcome Measures, Birth , 34, (2), 2007, p164 - 172
Lalor, Joan Gabrielle, Brady, Anne-Marie, Ryan, Padhraig, Hasson, Felicity, McKenna, Hugh, Sheaf, Greg, Vilinsky-Redmond, Aliona, Pittalis, Chiara, OBoyle, Colm, Systematic literature review of the evidence to inform the future education, role and function of the maternity care assistants in Ireland , Dublin, Health Service Executive, April , 2017, p1 - 227
Daly D, OBoyle C., Time to make midwifery matter in Ireland, The Practising Midwife, 13, (2), 2010, p15 - 17
OBoyle, C, Why is it so hard? how the HSE removes agency, making homebirth in Ireland so difficult, AIMS Journal, 27, (1), 2015, p15 - 17
OBoyle, C, Lalor JG, Maths and miscommunications, AIMS Journal, 27, (2), 2015, p22 - 23
OBoyle, C., Brady, V. and Timmins F., Making space for spirituality in childbirth, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 26, (19), 2017, p2823 - 2825
Fiona Timmins, Maryanne Murphy, Sílvia Caldeira, Eimear Ging, Carole King, Vivienne Brady, Jacqueline Whelan, Colm OBoyle , John Kelly, Freda Neill , Geralyn Hynes, Kathleen Neenan, Nicolas Pujol, Lisa Fitzgerald, Deborah Hayden, Barbara Sweeney, Mary Threadgold, Michael O' Sullivan, Bernadette Flanagan, Elizabeth Weathers , Philip Larkin, Therese Meehan, Karen Ward, Hannah Chew, Eunice Minford, Mandy Lee, Margaret Mulchaire, Anne Mc Auliffe, PJ Boyle, Noel Keating, Brian Nolan , The Development of a Spirituality Interest Group in the Republic of Ireland (ROI), Religions, 7, (3), 2016, p30 - 34
Timmins, F. McSherry, W. OBoyle, C., Brady, V. and Caldeira, S., Special Issue "International Conference of Spirituality in Healthcare. Sowing the Seeds"-Trinity College Dublin, Religions, 7, (11), 2016, p126-
Reynolds, Alison; OBoyle, Colm , Nurses' experiences of leech therapy in plastic and reconstructive surgery, British Journal of Nursing , 25, (13), 2016, p729 - 733
Sinclair M O'Boyle C, The Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory: a replication study, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 30, (6), 1999, p1416 - 1423
Colm OBoyle, Professionalism and Midwifery in Ireland, Work, Organisation and Ethnography, Queen Mary, University of London, 1st - 3rd Sept 2010, 2010
Colm OBoyle, Independent home birth midwifery in Ireland, Ethnographic Futures Conference, , University of Liverpool Management School , 2009, 2009
Colm OBoyle, Independent midwives as advocates of home birth in Ireland: A compromised position? , University of Liverpool Management School / Keele University Ethnographic Futures Conference, , Liverpool , 2008, 2008
Colm OBoyle, The dilemmas and potential inherent in full participation and autoethnography, 9th Advances in Qualitative Research Methods Conference , Banff Canada , October 2008 , 2008
Colm OBoyle, Buying in to governance, playing into their hands ? , 14th Qualitative Health Research Conference, , Banff Canada , October 2008, 2008
ColmOBoyle, Artefacts: Enculturated Objects : from an Ethnography of Independent Midwifery in Ireland, 9th Annual Interdisciplinary Health Conference, , TCD School of Nursing and Midwifery , 2008, 2008
Colm OBoyle, An ethnography of Independent Midwifery in Ireland: the wisdom or otherwise of integrating autobiography in ethnography., University of Liverpool Management School / Keele University Ethnographic Futures Conference, , Keele , 2007, 2007
Colm OBoyle, The Observer as participant: An exploration of the ethical and practical considerations of ethnography in the domiciliary midwifery setting., 8th Annual Interdisciplinary Health Conference, , TCD School of Nursing and Midwifery, Dublin , 2007, 2007
Colm OBoyle, Dell Horey, Mike Clarke, Cecily Begley, Declan Devane., The use of an e-delphi method to identify core maternity outcome measures. , COMET , Bristol , 11th July , 2011
Colm OBoyle, Dell Horey, Mike Clarke, Cecily Begley, Declan Devane., The use of an e-delphi method to identify core maternity outcome measures. , COMET Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials, Bristol, 11th June 2011, 2011, pp11-
Colm OBoyle, Kathryn Muldoon , Incorporating and facilitating reflective practice into an undergraduate midwifery education programme. , INMED Irish Network of Medical Educators , Trinity College Dublin , 19th May , 2011
Eileen Kenny, Colm OBoyle, An exploration of the unmet demand for home birth in Ireland, 14th Healthcare Interdisciplinary Research Conference and Student Colloquium, School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College Dublin , 5th- 7th November 20, 2013
Biesty, L, Lalor, J, OBoyle, C, Ethnography of Home Birth - "my Midwife" , 14th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, 6-7 November, 2014
Biesty, L, Lalor, J, OBoyle, C, The home and hospital interface in maternity care in Ireland - experiences of Self Employed Community Midwives during in-labour transfers, Optimising Childbirth Across Europe, Brussels, 9-10 April, 2014
Biesty, L., LALOR, J., OBoyle, C, An Ethnographic Study of In-Labour Transfer to Hospital for Planned Home Birth - The Beginning, School of Nursing & Midwifery 3rd bi annual conference, Galway, 2011
OBoyle, C, Freebirth in Ireland , Normal Labour and Birth 10th Research Conference 'Into the Future' , Grange over Sands, Cumbria, UK , 15th - 17th June , 2015
OBoyle, C, Freebirth in Ireland, TCD School of Nursing and Midwifery, 16th Healthcare Interdisciplinary Research Conference 2015, TCD School of Nursing and Midwifery, 3-4 November 2015, 2015
Biesty, L, Lalor, J, OBoyle, C, An Ethnographic Study of In-Labour Transfer to Hospital for Homebirth- To be there or not to be there? , Ethnography Symposium, Keele University, Liverpool, 5-7 September 2011, 2011
Biesty, L, OBoyle, C, Lalor J, Begley C., Choosing home birth in Ireland, 5th International Nursing and Midwifery Conference, Galway, 30th and 31st March, 2015
OBoyle, Colm , Home birth midwifery in Ireland - choice of place to birth needs space for midwives to practice. , 17th ESHMS book of abstracts , 17th European Society for Health and Medical Sociology: Old Tensions, Emerging paradoxes in Health; Rights, Knowledge and Trust Biennial Congress, Lisbon, Portugal, 6-8 June 2018, edited by Correia T, Carvalho de Silva V. , ISBN 978-972-8048-25-9, 2018, pp125 - 126
Fay, Zara, OBoyle Colm, An Exploration of How Specialist Palliative Care Nurses Identify and Manage Patients with Existential Distress , 22 International Congress on Palliative Care , Palais des Congrès, Montréal, Canada, October 2 - 5, 2018, 2018
Farsaci, LIz. OBoyle, Colm. Newnham Elizabeth , Women's lived experiences of access to alternative birth options in contemporary Ireland , Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2019 , School of Nursing and Midwifery TCD, 06/07 March 2019 , 2019
Neenan, K. Timmins, F. OBoyle, C. Whelan, J. Brady, V. Muldowney, Y. and McSherry, W. , Special Issue "International Conference of Spirituality in Healthcare. Creating Space for Spirituality in Healthcare,"-Trinity College Dublin 2017, Religions, 2019, p1-8
Muldowney, Y., Timmins, F., Brady, V., Caldeira, S., Whelan, J., Murphy, M., O'Boyle, C. Neenan, K., Shared Understandings of Spiritual Care Among the Members of an Innovative Spirituality Interest Group in the Republic of Ireland , 37th Annual International Nursing & Midwifery Research And Education Conference; Integrated Care: Ensuring Quality And Enhancing Patient Flow, Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery., St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2., 28th February -1st , 2018, pp134 - 134
Timmins, F., Whelan, J., Brady, V, OBoyle, C., Neenan, K., Muldowney, Y. & Caldeira, S., Enhancing Nurses and Midwives Competence in Providing Spiritual Care through Innovative Education and Compassionate Care' : Progress Towards Implementation of final spiritual care education standard.Teaching & Learning Event 3 (EPICC 2016-2019) , (EPICC Erasmus Plus Project Enhancing Nurses' and Midwives' Competence in Providing Spiritual Care through Innovative Education and Compassionate Care 2016-2019, University of the West of Wales,, 1-3 July 2019., 2019
Farsaci, Elizabeth. OBoyle, Colm. Newnham, Elizabeth, Cut Up and Drugged: Women's Experiences of Non-Consent and Control in Contemporary Irish Maternity Services, Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2020 (THEconf2020): 'Integrated healthcare: developing person-centred health systems' , Dublin, 03 - 05 March 2020 , 2020
O'Sullivan, Emma. Adams, Niamh. OBoyle Colm , The Use of Military Metaphor in Cancer Conversations, Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2020 (THEconf2020): 'Integrated healthcare: developing person-centred health systems' , Dublin, 03 - 05 March 2020 , 2020
Liz Farsaci, Colm OBoyle and Elizabeth Newnham, ., Access to alternative birth models: What women teach us about translating policy into practice. , University of Lancaster, International Labour and Birth Research Conference UK, , Grange-Over-Sands, , 24-26 April 2023. , 2023
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Colm OBoyle, Home sweet home birth, WIN: World of Irish Nursing and Midwifery, Journal of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, 21, (4), 2013, p45 - 45
OBoyle, C, HSE's stranglehold on birth choice has reduced home option to near extinction, 2013, -
OBoyle, C, Tell me about: Birthin' Babies, TCD School of Nursing and Midwifery Public Lecture Series 2012-2013, TCD School of Nursing and Midwifery , March , 2013
OBoyle, C, Bridging the Gap. Delivering on Choices & the Memo of Understanding , Essence of Midwifery Conference , Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital , May, 2010
OBoyle, C, Kenny, E, Unmet demands for Homebirths, Homebirth. Back to the Future. Home Birth Symposium, National Maternity Hospital, Gibson Hotel, Dublin , 25th November 2013 , 2013
Research Expertise
Description
Home Birth, Domiciliary midiwfery, Midwifery, Midwifery Education, Maternity Care Assistants, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Labour ward and Delivery, Coping in Labour, Self - Efficacy, control, Midwifery and Obstetric care outcomes.Projects
- Title
- Provision of evidence to inform the future education, role and function of Maternity Care Assistants in Ireland'
- Summary
- To produce a report based on the literature (including grey literature) on the education, role and function of the Maternity Care Assistant in Ireland and internationally. Which will examine and provide evidence from the literature on: . The role and function of the Maternity Healthcare Assistant - including the provision of sample job descriptions/job specifications . The educational preparation - content, level, duration etc. . The impact of Midwifery/ Maternity Healthcare Assistant skill-mix on quality of care and cost of that care. To be used to inform the future role and function of the Maternity Healthcare Assistant in Ireland. with Prof. Joan Lalor Prof. Anne-Marie Brady Prof. Hugh McKenna Dr. Felicity Hasson Dr. Padhraig Ryan Greg Sheaf Chiara Pittalis
- Funding Agency
- HSE project Ref 6967
- Date From
- August 2016
- Date To
- October 2016
- Title
- An Ethnography of Independent Midwifery in Ireland
- Summary
- Doctoral Study
- Funding Agency
- Health Research Board (Ireland)
- Date From
- Oct 2006
- Date To
- Oct 2009
- Title
- A mixed method exploration of the unmet demand for home birth in Ireland.
- Summary
- BSc Midwifery Student Eileen Kenny with Dr Jo Murphy-Lawless, co-supervisor
- Funding Agency
- HRB
- Date From
- June 2013
- Date To
- aug 2013
- Title
- A minimum outcome set for Maternity Care
- Summary
- To create a minimum outcome set for Maternity Care, Literature Review of RCT's and subsequent E-Delhpi study
- Date To
- 2006
- Title
- 'Exploring women's views of labour pain: a collaborative research approach'
- Date From
- 2019
Recognition
Representations
Member of the panel of experts to advise on the development of an audit tool for the HSE home birth service provided by self-employed community midwives (UCD HSE Fealy et al 2016 Unpublished)
National Steering Committee on Home Birth (NSCHB) which each have helped establish HSE home birth services through memoranda of understanding with Self Employed Community Midwives (SECMs).
Domiciliary Births Group (which published 'Delivering on Choice' 2008)
Awards and Honours
Outstanding Paper Award 2015, Emerald Literati Network, for 2014 Journal of Organisational Ethnography 3 (2) paper "Being with" ... 2014 3 (2)
Memberships
Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) Midwives' Section (Secretary 2008 - 2012)
Community Midwives Association (CMA)
Reviewer Journal of Organisational Ethnography
Reviewer Biomed central BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Reviewer International Journal of Childbirth