{{Short description|British midwife and academic}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Sara Kenyon | birth_place = Long Eaton | workplaces = University of Birmingham <br> University of Nottingham | alma_mater = University of Leicester <br> De Montfort University <br> King's College London | thesis_title = Researching pre-term birth : the oracle trial and children study | thesis_url = https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/757121496 | thesis_year = 2009 | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE}} }}
'''Sara Kenyon''' is a British midwife who is a professor of evidence-based maternity care at the University of Birmingham. Kenyon has dedicated her career to maternal health and improving the clinical outcomes of new families and babies. She works at the Birmingham Women's Hospital and co-developed the Birmingham Symptom Specific Obstetric Triage System.
== Early life and education == Kenyon is from Long Eaton.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |date=2024-12-30 |title=Derbyshire maternal health expert named in New Year Honours 2025 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ex2e24x12o |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Kenyon trained as a midwife at King's College London in 1980.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Alumni journeys: Sara Kenyon {{!}} Feature from King's College London |url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/alumni-journeys-sara-kenyon |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=www.kcl.ac.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> She has said that she chose to study there because it was on the 185 bus route. She went to the ultrasound department at Dulwich Community Hospital, where she pioneered midwives doing ultrasound scans. This involved launching an ultrasound course at King's.<ref name=":0" /> She started a programme to support women through antenatal testing, "Antenatal Results and Choices", which has been running for over three decades.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Pioneer in midwifery awarded MBE for dedicated career in maternal health - University of Birmingham |url=https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2024/pioneer-in-midwifery-awarded-mbe-for-dedicated-career-in-maternal-health |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250915121428/https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2024/pioneer-in-midwifery-awarded-mbe-for-dedicated-career-in-maternal-health |archive-date=2025-09-15 |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=www.birmingham.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> She moved to Nottingham, where she worked on the ORACLE trials, randomised control trials that proposed broad-spectrum antibiotics for women with PPROM or SPL. Her results showed that erythromycin improved neonatal outcomes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kenyon |first1=S. |last2=Taylor |first2=D. J. |last3=Tarnow-Mordi |first3=W. O. |last4=ORACLE Collaborative Group |date=2002 |title=ORACLE--antibiotics for preterm prelabour rupture of the membranes: short-term and long-term outcomes |journal=Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway: 1992). Supplement |volume=91 |issue=437 |pages=12–15 |doi=10.1111/j.1651-2227.2002.tb00153.x |issn=0803-5326 |pmid=12200889}}</ref> Kenyon completed an MSc in Applied Health Studies at De Montfort University, and was awarded a doctorate from the University of Leicester for her comprehensive research programme. Her doctoral research investigated pre-term births.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Researching pre-term birth : the oracle trial and children study {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/757121496 |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=search.worldcat.org |language=en}}</ref>
== Research and career == In 2009, Kenyon joined the University of Birmingham, where she was made professor of evidence-based maternity care. At Birmingham, Kenyon develops strategies to improve maternity care, and the outcomes of mothers and babies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nihr.ac.uk/people/professor-sara-kenyon|title=People: Professor Sara Kenyon}}</ref> She leads the West Midlands Applied Health Collaboration. Kenyon has led research trials and influenced policy.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=babuzEh_NKE |title=Professor Sara Kenyon Inaugural Lecture |date=2018-11-21 |last=University of Birmingham |access-date=2026-02-04 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
Kenyon was instrumental in establishing the Birmingham Symptom Specific Obstetric Triage System.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Children's |first=Birmingham Women's and |title=Maternal health expert awarded an MBE for services to midwifery {{!}} News |url=https://bwc.nhs.uk/news/maternal-health-expert-awarded-an-mbe-for-services-to-midwifery-13976 |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=Birmingham Women's and Children's |language=en}}</ref> The BSOTS involves a triage of women who present with unexpected problems, a process to determine the clinical urgency, and overall improvement of care.<ref name=":1" /> BSOTS was adopted by over one hundred NHS trusts. She studied the dose regimen of syntocinon for women who have not given birth before.<ref name=":1" />
Kenyon was appointed a Member of the British Empire in the 2024 New Year Honours.<ref name="auto"/> That year she was also honoured by the University of Birmingham as a recipient of the Rose Sidgwick Award for External Engagement.<ref name=":1" />
== Selected publications == * {{Cite Q|Q24248762}} * {{Cite Q|Q43568763}} * {{Cite Q|Q57293619|doi-access=free}}
== References == {{Reflist}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenyon, Sara}} Category:Living people Category:British midwives Category:People from Long Eaton Category:Academics of the University of Birmingham Category:Year of birth missing (living people)