Katie Morris (Trainee)
I am a sub specialty trainee and NIHR Clinical Lecturer at Birmingham and currently in my second
year of this four year post. My research interests include clinical trials in fetal medicine and
obstetrics, diagnostic research and research in the area of fetal growth restriction. I have experience
of representing trainees’ views locally as a member of the West Midlands Obstetrics and
Gynaecology Trainees committee.
If successfully elected to the committee, I would see my role as representing trainees' views on
training and the future of our specialty. I would wish to provide a point of contact for trainees and a
way to help trainees communicate as a group. I believe that BMFMS is a very important society to
improve the standards of pregnancy care and that we, as trainees, are the future of obstetrics and
the society.
Rachel Liebling (Fetal medicine)
I have been a consultant now for 4 years, one of four fetal medicine consultants in a tertiary unit. I
am the lead for fetal cardiology, principally working with FASP both regionally and nationally to
standardise pathways and care for this group of patients. I am college tutor and am passionate
about teaching and training, having being involved from an early stage in a number of initiatives
including StratOG.
Historically doctors have been pioneers, people with vision, leading the way, pushing at boundaries.
The qualities of a leader are different from those of a manager. Since becoming a consultant in the
NHS and in obstetrics I have witnessed an unintentional, pervasive drift away from leadership
towards management, and many decisions made in recent history are now starting to bite. In
training, in research and in the workplace we are being managed. The trainee is reduced to
persuading their trainer to tick a box. The motivation is to detect the unsafe doctor not to engender
brilliance; to manage the worst case scenario not to strive for the best. Research is now so tightly
managed that R&D departments will only support portfolio studies and in order to participate one is
bound to attend a standardised course, which is principally designed to ensure that we can conduct
well ordered drug trials. Every day in the workplace we are managed out of any enthusiasm to effect
change, with endless meetings and standardised documents.
Tight, ordered, efficient, well thought out management is essential but not at the expense of vision
for the future, freedom of thought and a grasp of the big picture. I’m anxious that this perspective is
getting lost. I think we need to be brave if we are going to redress the balance and make the most of
the years ahead in fetal medicine and obstetrics. I think that the BMFMS is in a position to lead.
Pranav Pandya (Fetal Medicine)
I have had a long standing interest in fetal medicine. I undertook my training at University College
London Hospitals (UCLH), King’s College Hospital and The University of Toronto in Canada. I have
been a consultant in Fetal Medicine and Obstetrics at UCLH for 11 years and am the Clinical Lead of
Fetal Medicine. In addition, I am the Subspecialty Training Programme Director with a responsibility
for 3 subspecialty trainees.
In January 2012 I was appointed as Chair of the Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (FASP) Steering
Group at the NSC. As part of my remit I am actively involved in reviewing the Down’s syndrome
screening and the 18-20 weeks scan. I am also Chair of the FASP/RCOG working party to implement a
national continuous audit for chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis. I hope that this will
provide useful information to women and healthcare professionals to effectively provide a high
standard of care nationally.
From an education perspective I have established three new courses; Dilemma’s in Obstetric
Ultrasound, an Amniocentesis Workshop and a Basic Ultrasound Course.
I am committed to achieving clinical and academic excellence in fetal medicine. I believe the BMFMS
is ideally placed to influence the way we practice fetal medicine and I would like to be in a position
to make a contribution to our specialty.
Neelam Engineer (Fetal Medicine)
Neelam Engineer is a consultant in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at University Hospitals, Coventry.
She graduated from University of Mangalore, India underwent postgraduate training in North
Thames London Deanery and completed subspecialty training at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea
Hospital, London in 2008.
Miss Engineer is the Lead Clinician for Fetal Medicine at Coventry and her special interests include
multiple pregnancies, fetal growth disorders and hypertensive disorders in pregnancies.
Having completed her MD research degree at Imperial College London, Miss Engineer maintains her
research activities at University of Warwick and is involved in several local and multi-centre studies
related to postnatal depression, monochorionic twin pregnancies and preterm labour.
Miss Engineer is keen to promote knowledge and skills in fetal medicine to postgraduate trainees.
She is the local preceptor for fetal medicine ATSM and regularly conducts local ultrasound training
sessions. She recently held a regional West Midlands fetal medicine forum on Intra-uterine Growth
Restriction.
Statement re: nomination to the BMFMS committee:
I am passionate about promoting high quality training and research in Maternal and Fetal Medicine.
I am in constant touch with local trainees and endeavour to understand their needs and concerns. I
am very enthusiastic about my work and I am committed to enhancing maternal experience during
pregnancy and childbirth.
If appointed as a committee member, It would be a privilege to be part of the dynamic and
prestigious British Maternal Fetal Medicine Society and work alongside its members in continuing to
improve the standards of pregnancy care.
Myles Taylor (Fetal Medicine)
If elected to be the Fetal Medicine representative for the BMFMS, I will aim to make this section of
the annual conference even more interesting and appealing to delegates.
Having attended every BMFMS meeting for the past 12 years as a research fellow, registrar,
subpecialty trainee and for the past 8 years as a consultant in Exeter, I have contributed directly to
the conference proceedings either by presenting oral abstracts, posters, or arguing a debate. This
experience has been valuable in helping me gain an appreciation of what makes a memorable
conference session.
I have also valued the importance of meeting old friends and making new acquaintances –
highlighting the need for the committee to ensure a good venue for both social and scientific
reasons.
However, providing a good and enjoyable conference is not the only role of the committee. The
BMFMS has grown considerably in stature of the past decade and its views are sought regularly by
influential bodies such as the RCOG and NICE. Having published widely in the Obstetric literature,
but also by continuing to work on the shop-floor of Fetal Medicine, I feel that I can help inform these
opinions on behalf of the BMFMS membership.
Alec McEwan (Fetal Medicine)
I have been a consultant in Fetal and Maternal medicine at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust
since 2005. I have three busy scanning/fetal medicine clinics per week and I contribute to the fetal
blood transfusion service provided by the Nottingham consultants. My key area of interest is
molecular prenatal diagnosis and how our specialty interacts with the clinical genetics service. My
MD investigated the use of trophoblasts in maternal blood for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis and I
have represented fetal medicine on a number of committees and working parties focussing on this.
My other area of interest is training and education. I was the trainee rep for BMFMS, and during
that time worked closely with the education subcommittee in drafting the curriculum and log book.
Later, I undertook a large piece of work for BMFMS which helped to inform the RCOG document
‘The Future Workforce in Obstetrics and Gynaecology’ (May 2009). I have been college tutor for
more than 5 years and more recently I have become training programme director for the East
Midlands (North) School of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. I am currently training to be an RCOG
examiner.
Along with my specialist skills and knowledge of fetal medicine, I will bring to BMFMS an absolutely
up-to-date understanding of training in our specialty.
Santhi Chidambaram (DGH)
I have been a consultant with special interest in feto-maternal medicine in district general hospitals
since 2007 (Calderdale & Huddersfield Hospitals NHS Trust and Chesterfield Royal Hospital).
In addition to management of maternal medical problems, I lead in local provision of antenatal
diagnosis and fetal monitoring in appropriate situations and liaison with tertiary centres which
increases the choices available to the women.
I have been an active member of BMFMS and contribute to the educational activities at local and
regional level. I also co-ordinate and participate in the provision of ultrasound training to the
trainees.
I engage in the research projects (e.g.OPTIMUM, CHIPS) undertaken in our hospital and as the labour
ward lead I am keen to promote the participation of district hospitals in epidemiological and
investigative studies in intrapartum care.
I support the need for development of national audits in fetal medicine, pregnancy and labour &
delivery outcomes to standardise the care across the country and the lead role of BMFMS in this. If I
am elected as a committee member, I would contribute and truly represent the views of the
specialists from district general hospitals in this process.
Ross Welch (DGH)
Ross Welch trained with Prof Rodeck at Charlotte's, Prof Whittle in Birmingham and in Liverpool. He
has run a fetal medicine service as a consultant for nearly 20 years in two large DGHs (Merseyside
and currently Plymouth). He is particularly interested in fetal therapy and was past president of the
International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society and remains on the board.
Louise Page (DGH)
I am a Consultant with a special interest in Maternal Medicine and Intrapartum Care working in a
busy DGH in North West London. I have been a member of BMFMS for many years and have
regularly attended the BMFMS Annual Conference. I have an interest in involving all types of units in
research programmes and am currently the principal investigator for a number of studies at West
Middlesex University Hospital.
I also have a strong academic interest in patient safety and will be completing my MSc in Quality and
Safety in Healthcare at Imperial College this year. I have had a number of Maternal Medicine related
poster and oral presentations at national and international conferences as well as publications in
peer reviewed journals. I am actively involved in training at both medical student and postgraduate
levels with a particular focus on hi-fidelity simulation.
I would be delighted to represent my DGH colleagues on the BMFMS committee. I would aim to fulfil
the mission statement of the BMFMS – to promote research and audit, the development of training
and ultimately improve the care we offer to pregnant women up and down the United Kingdom. I
would bring new enthusiasm and ideas to the BMFMS committee.
Janet Ashworth (DGH)
I have been a Consultant Obstetrician at Royal Derby Hospital (a large DGH with a post-graduate
medical school, affiliated to the University of Nottingham) since 2003. I lead up a Fetal and Maternal
Medicine team of four other consultants. Prior to this, I was a Mid-Trent trainee in O+G, during
which I did a doctorate on vascular physiology in pre-eclampsia, then a sub-specialty trainee in
Birmingham.
I have been a member of the BMFMS since its inaugural meeting at which I nervously presented my
research, and was trainee representative on the committee for 2 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed
the way that our society combines science and clinical application and would look forward to
contributing to maintaining the relevance of this for those of us practicing in the DGH environment.
Mustafa Sadiq (DGH)
I have been practicing and teaching fetal and maternal medicine for over 14 years . I have
encouraged numerous trainees at district general level to improve their skills further and have
helped develop a service that fits between tertiary fetal medicine and that of a district general
hospital. I feel that trainees and future obstetricians should all have a basic level of scanning and
general understanding in both fetal and maternal medicine. If elected I would aim to provide more
clinically relevant approach so as to involve more obstetricians and trainees as there is a feeling
among future obstetricians / trainees that there is a need for this as training and job plans are
evolving. I feel that BMFMS could also develop a role in training/ teaching.