Cardiff Maternity & Midwifery Festival 2026
Wednesday 23 September 2026
Cardiff City FC, Cardiff City Stadium, Leckwith Road, Cardiff CF11 8AZ
Keelie Grindley
Keelie EDI Midwife, NHS; Founder, Nya Birth Collective.
Keelie is a specialist midwife in equity, diversity and inclusion in the NHS. Keelie also founded Nya Birth Collective, a midwifery consultancy whose sole aim is to improve current racial disparities in maternal experience and outcomes.
Throughout her training and into qualification, Keelie developed a strong interest in addressing health inequities within maternity services. After representing her Trust at the Black Maternal Health Conference in 2024, she designed and delivered a training package focused on equity in maternity care for global majority women and birthing people. Her teachings have now reached students and professionals in areas up and down the United Kingdom.
Keelie’s specialist role in the NHS is dedicated to improving equity in maternity care and outcomes for marginalised communities, including Black and Brown communities, families seeking asylum, Deaf and Blind communities, Gypsy, Roma, Traveller groups and LGBTQ+ families.
A significant focus of Keelie’s work is improving outcomes for global majority women and birthing people. National data over the past five years has highlighted a significantly higher risk of morbidity and mortality in maternity care compared with White women and birthing people. Keelie works regionally and nationally to help close these gaps through the development of equitable, accessible services and targeted education for the maternity workforce.
Keelie leads on lived experience, engagement and co-production initiatives, working directly with service users from diverse communities, to better understand their experiences of safety, inclusion and representation. She strongly values elevating underserved voices, and patient-led insight, as a driver for meaningful change. Keelie is a firm believer that small, consistent actions can lead to significant improvements over time.
Keelie’s role in the NHS allows her to work both on site and within the community. A key achievement has been the development of bespoke antenatal education for the local asylum-seeking community, creating safe and supportive spaces for vulnerable families — work she is particularly proud of.
In recognition of her work and impact, Keelie was the winner of the Rising Star Award at the Black Maternal Health Awards, 2025, which celebrate excellence in maternal healthcare, including care quality and access, maternal mental health, education, policy change, empowerment and community support. Keelie also recently won the Mama Academy’s EDI Ambassador award this year.
