Beverley Lawrence Beech

Beverley Ann Lawrence Beech (12 November 1944 – 25 February 2023) was a Welsh author, chair of the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services (AIMS) from 1977 to 2017[1][2] and an active campaigner against the medicalisation of pregnancy and birth.

[9] She noticed a letter in The Times penned by Jean Robinson about the overuse of artificial induction and contacted the writer.

AIMS had been set up in 1960 by Sally Willington in order to support women in achieving the sort of birth they wanted.

[19][20][21] Under Beech's chairwomanship, AIMS produced the 1997 Charter for Ethical Research in Maternity Care and noted a gradual shift in the discourse of articles and statements towards discussion of informed consent.

[1] Beech was a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, a lay advisor to the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, a lay member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Maternity Forum and of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and a member of the Midwifery Committee of the NMC.