In conversation with Dr Elspeth Whitby

Send us a textWelcome to the first episode of season five of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, in conversation with Dr Elspeth WhitbyDr Whitby is a senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield and an Honorary consultant at Sheffield teaching hospitals NHS trust. Her areas of interest are based around obstetric imaging with MRI including the fetus, the placenta and post mortem imaging. She runs a national service for fetal imaging for all body areas and for assessing for placental invasion.Despite having an academic post her work has been driven by local need andrequests from the clinicians and is heavily clinically based. She is also part of the team that have established the world’s first clinical service for imaging the post mortem fetus and neonate based on the teams work.In addition she works as part of a sociology team looking at the impact of MRI asa technology on patient care in the clinical setting both for in utero and postmortem imaging. The aim of this collaboration is to understand the landscape inwhich she works and how that integrates with society. This has altered herclinical practice in many ways, hopefully for the better.Her service is streamlined and designed so appointments are available at shortnotice but no appointment slots are unfilled. She tries to develop a ‘lean service’model within the current working environment.Outside work she prioritises the family but find time for doing traditional andnew crafts, running around the peak district with friends, aiming for brunch orcoffee and cake at the end of the run, and time in the garden, the greenhouseacting as her sanctuary.https://www.fetalmri.co.uk/https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/smph/people/clinical-medicine/elspeth-whitbyPodcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

Send us a textWelcome to a special bonus episode! Recorded live at the RCOG Annual Academic Meeting in January 2024, organised by the Blair Bell Research Society. Join us in conversation with Professor Lucilla Poston, co-hosted with the fabulous Dr Neil Ryan (a clinical academic and subspecialty trainee in gynae-oncology). This is also a chance to celebrate the RCOG Annual Academic Meeting and learn a bit more about the Blair Bell Research Society. With thanks to the RCOG and BBRS for permission to share the recording.  Professor Poston's bio:https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/lucilla-postonProfessor Lucilla Poston CBE is a Professor of Maternal & Fetal Health in the School of Life Course & Population Sciences. Her research spans maternal nutrition, obesity and gestational diabetes with a focus on the short as well as longer term consequences for the health of mother and the child. Approaches include studies in mother -child cohorts and development of pragmatic interventions in pregnancy to improve pregnancy outcome and child health. Her team also interrogate the early life origins of disease through maternal and child electronic health record data linkages.Professor Poston is President of the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG) and was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2009. She was appointed NIHR Senior Investigator, Emeritus in 2017, having succeeded twice in open competition. In 2017, Lucilla was awarded a CBE for services to Women’s Health. In 2024 Lucilla was listed by Research.com as being one of the top 1000 female scientists in the world, according to the H Index.Previously Professor Poston was the Tommy's Chair of Maternal & Fetal Health and the Director of the Tommy’s Maternal & Fetal Research Unit based at St Thomas’ Hospital, and the Head of the School of Life Course & Population Sciences.RCOG Annual Academic Meeting info:The RCOG Annual Academic meeting ‘Save the date’ and call for abstracts has just been announced! 6-7 Feb 2025https://rcog.eventsair.com/annual-academic-meeting-feb-2025Dr Neil Ryan's bio:https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/neilryanNeil is the RCOG Subspecialty Trainee in Gynaecology Oncology at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and a CSO/NES Clinical Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.He was awarded a personal MRC fellowship to undertake a PhD at the University of Manchester (UoM) which he completed in 2020. His thesis was supervised by Professors Crosbie and Evans.His PhD led to a change in NICE guidelines relating to the testing of womb cancer along with numerous publications, presentations, invited lectures and awards.Neil's work was recognised by a President's Doctorial Scholarship and awarded the UoM's highest postgraduate award: The President's Medal. Neil was recently awarded the William Blair Bell Lecture by the RCOG.British Gynaecological Cancer Society (BGCS) podcast info:https://www.bgcs.org.uk/professionals/new-podcast-series/Podcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance')

Send us a textWelcome to the fifth episode of season four of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, in conversation with Professor Lawrence Impey. Professor Impey's bio: Qualification MBBS 1988 from the MiddlesexUndergraduate degree 1985 in OxfordTrained in London, Dublin and Oxford. MRCOG 1993, FRCOG 2007Consultant in Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine in Oxford since 2001.Full time NHS clinical consultant, director of tertiary referral Oxford Fetal Medicine Unit23 years as practising obstetrician and fetal medicine specialistDirector of subspeciality training in maternal and fetal medicine, OxfordClinical Lead for Maternity Health Innovation Oxford and Thames ValleyVisiting Professor in fetal medicine, Oxford UniversityAuthor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Impey and Child 6th (ed in preparation), and Oxford handbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (current is 3rd ed) Collins, Arulkumaran, Hayes, Arambage and ImpeyMultiple blood chapters eg Oxford Textbook of MedicineLead author of two greentop guidelinesPublications on labour and the role of intrapartum risk factors, breech presentation, preterm birth and fetal growth restriction and risk factors for adverse outcomesCurrent research projects: predicting and preventing stillbirth, Machine learning based intrapartum CTG interpretationFather of Cicely and Orlando and grandfather of FergusPodcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

Send us a textWelcome to the fourth episode of season four of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, in conversation with Stephanie Ernst, founder of the charity TAPS Support. Stephanie's bio: Stephanie Ernst: Twin mum, TAPS nerd, expert patient and Australian in the Netherlands (self identified as a clogaroo). After delivering monochorionic twins at 31 weeks,, Stephanie struggled to find quality information about Twin Anemia Polycythemia Sequence (TAPS), the diagnosis she had received for her daughters.  This led to the creation of a Facebook community, and later grew to the charity TAPS Support, Her aim is to help continue research into the complications of monochorionic twins, through actively raising funds for research projects, supporting researchers of the future, and talking with professionals about the perspective of parents with complicated twins pregnancies, and the additional considerations they may need. (And promises she's not out to start fights or arguments, she just has a lot to say).  She also has a passion for breaking down medical jargon, and helping families understand their diagnosis through giving good quality research in everyday terms. Patients should be an active part of their own care team, and need the resources and support to do this.She actively publishes research with two other TTTS mothers, and writes and speaks regularly on twin-related topics, as well as many other subjects, and works in marketing, specifically for companies dealing with clinical research, training and coaching.. In her spare time, she hangs out with the coolest twins ever (her daughters) and her long suffering, very patient husband, and drinks a lot of coffee (and doesn't mind the occasional G&T!).Find a portfolio of her work here: https://stephanieernst.nl/portfolio/For more information on TAPS Support, visit https://www.tapssupport.com/Additional resources: ICOMBO Declaration of rights & statement of needs for twins and higher order multiples: https://icombo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Declaration-of-Rights-2022.pdf European Standards of Care for Newborn Health: https://newborn-health-standards.org/NICE Guidelines for Twin and Triple Pregnancy: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng137Podcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

Send us a textWelcome to the third episode of season four of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we speak to Professor Jenny Myers.Professor Myers' bio:Jenny is Professor of Obstetrics & Maternal Medicine within the Maternal & Fetal Health Research Centre, University of Manchester and Consultant Obstetrician, St Mary’s Hospital. As an obstetrician, Jenny is part of the Maternal Medicine team and leads two translational research clinics for women with hypertension and diabetes. She is also the Hospital Chief Clinical Informatics Officer for St Mary’s Managed Clinical Service (18000 births). She currently runs a portfolio of clinical and laboratory science studies which span vascular and placental biology research, preclinical models, observational cohort studies and intervention trials before, during and after pregnancy.Jenny is the chief/principal investigator for several multicenter studies related tohypertension and diabetes in pregnancy. Jenny is a Consulting Editor for Plos Medicine,President of the RCOG Blair Bell Research Society, obstetric advisor for the NationalDiabetes in Pregnancy Audit and has served on several NICE committees.World Pre-eclampsia Day 2024:This is on May 22nd 2024. Find out more about it from APEC (Action on Pre-eclampsia) here: https://action-on-pre-eclampsia.org.uk/world-pre-eclampsia-day/Phoenix study:Find out more about the Phoenix study here: Chappell LC, Brocklehurst P, Green ME, Hunter R, Hardy P, Juszczak E, Linsell L, Chiocchia V, Greenland M, Placzek A, Townend J, Marlow N, Sandall J, Shennan A; PHOENIX Study Group. Planned early delivery or expectant management for late preterm pre-eclampsia (PHOENIX): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2019 Sephttps://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2819%2931963-4/fulltextPodcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

Send us a textWelcome to the second episode of season four of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we speak to Professor Katia Bilardo. Professor Bilardo's bio:Katia Bilardo is an Italian gynaecologist, Professore, who practised in The Netherlands (University of Amsterdam and Groningen). She trained at King's College Hospital with Prof. Stuart Campbell and Prof. Kypros Nicolaides in the 1980s. Among her achievements: ISUOG President (2018-2020), awardee Stuart Campbell award for Education (2022). She has mentored over 20 Phd Thesis.Podcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

Send us a textWelcome to season four of Conversations in Fetal Medicine! In this episode we speak to Professor Zarko Alfirevic, a legend of evidence-based obstetrics and fetal medicine.  Professor Alfirevic's bio: Zarko Alfirevic is Professor Emeritus at the University of Liverpool where he was Professor of Fetal and Maternal Medicine, Head of Department of Women’s and Children’s Health and Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences.His main research interests are evidence based medicine and clinical trials in high risk obstetrics. He has over 300 publications listed in PubMed with H-index of 92. He speaks regularly at the international meetings on topics related to preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, induction of labour and evidence based medicine.He has been Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group since 2008 and remains an active member of Cochrane Community, currently serving on the Cochrane Library Editorial Board.Podcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

Send us a textWelcome to the sixth episode of season three of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we speak to Sally Boxall, now a specialist nurse in Fetal Medicine in Southampton but consultant nurse in that unit for more than two decades until she semi-retired. It's the last one for this season, but we will definitely be back for more in a few months. Keep an eye out for a special bonus episode too (fingers crossed)! Sally Boxall's bio in her own words: Specialist nurse in Fetal Medicine, Wessex Fetal Medicine Unit, SouthamptonI initially trained as a nurse alongside a degree in life sciences at Liverpool university back in the dark ages, and then did my midwifery training in Southampton. Rather than working as a midwife I became the first specialist nurse in genetics in the Wessex Region, and then after 10 years, in 1996, was offered a post as a specialist nurse within the newly created Wessex fetal medicine unit. In 2000 I was appointed as a consultant nurse in fetal medicine and continued in that role until I semi-retired in 2022. I now work part-time as a specialist nurse and spend the rest of my time being a lady that lunches. Married with 2 grown up daughters, 2 grand-daughters and a manic dog.Podcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

Send us a textWelcome to the fifth episode of season three of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we speak to Dr Graham Tydeman. Dr Tydeman's bio: Graham Tydeman is a consultant obstetrician with subspecialty interest in fetal medicine who retired a few years ago but has found he’s not very good at it. He worked full-time in Fife for over 20 years and now focusses on medical innovation and invention with associated research. When not paragliding, sailing or in his shed, with his wife, he spends as much time with their 3 daughters as possible each of which has collaborated in various medical projects: the eldest is a producer and made the blood clock video; the middle is a product design engineer and worked on his cerclage simulator and the youngest is a post doc medical statistician at Kings and  they published their first Tydeman Tydeman paper together last year. (Editor's note - life goals, right there. Love it. )Amnio Abby:https://www.adam-rouilly.co.uk/products/clinical-skills-simulators/ultrasound-training-models/ar60-amnio-abby-ultrasound-guided-invasive-procedures-simulatorGraham's Youtube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/strathenryPodcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.

Send us a textWelcome to the fourth episode of season three of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Professor Sue Walker. Professor Walker's bio:Professor Sue Walker AO, FAAHMS is the Head of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health at The University of Melbourne since 2016 and is also the Chair of the Division of Perinatal Medicine and Clinical Director, Maternal Fetal Medicine at the Mercy Hospital for Women. She is the inaugural Sheila Handbury Chair of Maternal Fetal Medicine, University of Melbourne, and is the co-director of Mercy Perinatal - a 3 pillar centre committed to clinical care, education and research in high-risk pregnancy. Her research interests include improving the detection and management of fetal growth disorders, stillbirth prevention, therapeutics for pre-eclampsia, perinatal epidemiology and the impact of Sleep Disordered Breathing on perinatal outcomes.Mercy Perinatal mailing list:If anyone would like to jump on the Mercy Perinatal mailing list so they can receive invitations to Fetal Medicine at Twilight, Global Obstetric Update and their regular ‘Journal Club on the Run’ emails, feel free to drop them a line  on [email protected] K-ISBAR tool:de Senneville LL, Brewin A, Thomas A, Calvert K. A qualitative analysis of adding kindness into the ISBAR handover tool. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2022 Dec;62(6):901-905. doi: 10.1111/ajo.13607. Epub 2022 Sep 12. PMID: 36097379.Podcast information:We have not included any patient identifiable information, and this podcast is intended for professional education rather than patient information (although welcome anyone interested in the field to listen). Please get in touch with feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics: [email protected], or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.