Dr. Eleni Hadjigeorgiou

Associate Professor of Midwifery Care, Scientifi Coordinator

Dr Eleni Hadjigeorgiou is an Assistant Professor, Midwifery Care, Director  of the MSc programme in Midwifery at the Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health science,  Cyprus University of Technology. Her research focuses on women’s health , the cultures around normal birth, childbirth rights , birth satisfaction and perinatal mental health. 

Research Activities:

Dr. Hadjigeorgiou has been involved in many innovative research projects. The  ” Best Start in life” BrEaST, European Project Y-SAV Youth- Sexual Aggression and Victimization, COST action IS 1405: Building Intrapartum Health Through Research-an interdisciplinary approach to whole system understanding and contextualizing labour and physiological birth (BIRTH). She coordinated a quantitative research with Topic: “Mentally Healthy mothers. Mentally healthy children. Solid foundation of the new generation.” She participated in Baby Buddy – Forward,  Erasmus . In COST 18211 PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH AND BIRTH-RELATED TRAUMA: MAXIMISING BEST PRACTICE AND OPTIMAL OUTCOMES (DEVoTION) 2019-2023. Member of coordinating team of European study: Clinicians’ experiences of interpersonal interactions in the birth environment. Principal investigator in Cyprus in International study: “Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic in Perinatal Mental Health (Riseup PPD-Covid)”. Principal investigator in Cyprus in International study “International Survey of Childbirth- Related Trauma the INTERSECT study in Cyprus”. (2022-2025). Dr Hadjigeorgiou now participate in COST-CA22114 Maternal Perinatal Stress and Adverse Outcomes in the Offspring: Maximising infants´development (TREASURE) 2023-2027 and in CERV-2022-DAPHNE Toward a culture of Respectful Maternity Care (RMC): Enhancing Shared Decision Making and Informed Choice 2022-2024”.  Dr Hadjigeorgiou is the project coordinator of EU4Health – Mind the Mum: Placing Parental Mental Health and Care to the Forefront

Margarita Kapsou

Project Manager, Clinical Psychologist

Project Manager; Licensed Clinical Psychologist Reg. CY#167, Experienced NGO Consultant, Researcher & Trainer, founder of the NonProfit Company The Psychopolis LTD, over 20+ years of professional and volunteer experience with Human Rights NGOs, as well as academic and funded projects.

Margarita has served as initiator, founding member and leader in many NGOs and networks in Cyprus and Europe. She has worked providing psychological counseling support to university students, co-created non formal learning programs, life skills interactive workshops for brining communities together, building skills and supporting adjustment. She has have served in several executive and Board positions of NGOs , worked as project manager for national and European funded projects, worked with minorities, LGBTQI+, women, refugees and migrants, disadvantaged and marginalized groups.

She has also been Project Manager for the CERV-Daphne-22- 101096681 project “Respect: Toward a culture of Respectful Maternity Care (RMC): Enhancing Shared Decision Making and Informed Choice in Cyprus and Croatia| CERV-DAPHNE” and RespectWATCH: Developing an Advocacy Strategy and WatchDog Mechanisms to esnure Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) in Cyprus- CERV-BUILD-CY-B04

Dr. Ioanna Koliandri

Research Associate

With a Bachelor in Psychology, a Masters in Developmental and Social Psychology and a PhD in Research Methodologies in Health Sciences, Dr. Koliandri is an experienced academic, expert in maternal mental health and a Research Associate on Erasmus and other EU-funded projects. Her research focuses on trauma-informed education, perinatal mental health, and support for refugee and migrant women. Her work centers on inclusive, cross-sectoral initiatives; such as Baby Buddy Cyprus and advocates for ethical, culturally responsive care. Her work bridges research, policy and practice to promote equity and wellbeing.

Špela Slovša

Institute Director, Project Manager

Špela discovered her passion for maternity care after her second birth, which was a planned homebirth. The stark difference between her hospital and home birth encouraged her to step on the path of human and patient’s rights advocacy. She is a doula, childbirth educator and lactation specialist with 10 years of experience helping families. She has been in leading positions since 2016 and has strong motivation to change maternity care towards more respectful models of care through advocacy, education and research. In 2022, she founded Institute Umbilica which quickly became an important player in Slovenia’s maternity care. Špela appears in media frequently and is outspoken about what maternity care could be like if all stakeholders worked together. Her areas of interest are evolution of midwifery, mental health, pregnancy loss, breastfeeding and continuous models of care. 

Andreja Pišek

Psychologist, Project Associate

Andreja is a mother of three children – each with their own story, each born through a different birth experience that has shaped her as a woman, a mother, and as someone who wants to support others on this path.
She is passionate about deepening her knowledge, especially in the field of psychological support for mothers, and about creating a safe space for conversation, compassion, and understanding. She believes that every mother needs and deserves support – not only during birth but especially afterward, when the true transformation begins.
She now works from her own experiences – from the needs she once felt and can now recognize in others. Her vision for the future is to work one-on-one with new mothers, to offer them the support they need, to listen, to truly hear them, and to remind them that they are not alone.