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Welcome 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-poston

Professor 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 2025

https://rcog.eventsair.com/annual-academic-meeting-feb-2025

Dr Neil Ryan's bio:

https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/neilryan

Neil 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: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, or via Twitter (X) or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic

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Welcome 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 Middlesex

Undergraduate degree 1985 in Oxford

Trained in London, Dublin and Oxford. MRCOG 1993, FRCOG 2007

Consultant in Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine in Oxford since 2001.

Full time NHS clinical consultant, director of tertiary referral Oxford Fetal Medicine Unit

23 years as practising obstetrician and fetal medicine specialist

Director of subspeciality training in maternal and fetal medicine, Oxford

Clinical Lead for Maternity Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley

Visiting Professor in fetal medicine, Oxford University

Author 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 Impey

Multiple blood chapters eg Oxford Textbook of Medicine

Lead author of two greentop guidelines

Publications on labour and the role of intrapartum risk factors, breech presentation, preterm birth and fetal growth restriction and risk factors for adverse outcomes

Current research projects: predicting and preventing stillbirth, Machine learning based intrapartum CTG interpretation

Father of Cicely and Orlando and grandfather of Fergus

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: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, 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.

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Welcome 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/ng137

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: conversationsinfetalmed@gmail.com, 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.