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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: [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.

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Welcome 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 to
hypertension and diabetes in pregnancy. Jenny is a Consulting Editor for Plos Medicine,
President of the RCOG Blair Bell Research Society, obstetric advisor for the National
Diabetes 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 Sep

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2819%2931963-4/fulltext

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.

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Welcome 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.

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Welcome 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, Southampton

I 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.

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Welcome 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-simulator

Graham's Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/strathenry

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.

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Welcome 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].

The 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.

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Welcome to the third episode of season three of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Hayley Manning, host of the brilliant podcast Time To Talk TFMR (Termination for Medical Reasons).

Hayley Manning:

Hayley is a counsellor and therapist, who after her own termination for medical reasons (TFMR), went on to create the podcast Time To Talk TFMR to explore the issues surrounding this often not openly discussed subject. Guests range from others who’ve experienced TFMR, to health professionals working with this patient group.

Time to Talk TFMR podcast:

https://talktfmr.buzzsprout.com/

Antenatal results and choices (ARC) supports Time to Talk TFMR podcast:

https://www.arc-uk.org/for-parents/break-the-silence-around-tfmr/

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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.

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Welcome to the second episode of season three of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Professor John Kingdom.

Prof Kingdom's bio:

John Kingdom is a consultant in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Obstetrics at Mount Sinai
Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada, where he established their Placenta Clinic in 1999 with his career-long friend Rory Windrim. English by birth, John lived in the southern counties, then in the “Troubles” of Northern Ireland, before medical school Dublin, where he graduated from Trinity College in 1984. Living in the busy Rotunda Hospital in Dublin for 3 months, followed by a summer elective at the Fetal Medicine centre at the Queen Mother’s Hospital Glasgow, the home of Obstetric Ultrasound, set him firmly on his career path. He spent the next decade as a trainee in Glasgow, before moving to UCH, London to one of the very few UK subspecialty training positions at that time in Fetal Medicine. He held a senior lecturer position at UCL for only 3 years, before making the decision to cross the Pond to take up a unique opportunity as a clinician-scientist in major MFM centre. There he managed a molecular pathology research lab linked with his work as a high-risk Obstetrician, producing over 400 basic and more clinical publications thus far in his career, including guidelines on placenta accreta spectrum disorder and fetal growth restriction. In 2017, John led the first launch of real-time placenta growth factor testing (PlGF) in North America, which in 2023 is fast changing many aspects of care in our specialty.

Since 2013, John has been Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, spanning a city of over 6 million. With over 300 consultants across all sub-specialities, working in a citywide network of 10 hospitals and over 40,000 births annually, UofT ObGyn now ranks second to Harvard. Mount Sinai MFM Division of over 20 consultants provides 24/7 in-house care in all dimension of Fetal Medicine, and is home to both the Ontario Fetal Centre and a new Complex Obstetrics Surgery program. Their city-wide MFM fellowship currently has 12 subspecialty trainees in 2-3 year programs, as a mix of Canadian and International trainees, including from the UK. John’s current passion beyond his own research focuses on mentorship across the fellowship to consultant transition, and ongoing academic career development. In Fall 2023 he was elected to fellowship of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

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 a text

Welcome to the first episode of season three of Conversations in Fetal Medicine, where we talk to Professor Asma Khalil. See below for her bio.

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.
 
Biography of Prof. Khalil:

Prof. Asma Khalil, MD,MBBCh, MRCOG, MSc(Epi), DFSRH, Dip(GUM)

Professor of Fetal Medicine, St George’s Hospital, University of London

Director of Fetal Medicine Unit, Liverpool Women’s Hospital

Vice-President of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Asma Khalil is a Professor of Fetal Medicine. She is the Obstetric Lead at the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit (NMPA). She gained her MD at the University of London in 2008. She was elected as the Vice-President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

She set up the Laser service for fetal interventions at Liverpool Women's Hospital in 2011.

Prof. Asma Khalil has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers, and many published review articles and chapters. She was awarded many research prizes, both at national and international meetings. She was awarded the 2021 FIGO Women's Awards: Recognising Female Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Her research interests include twin pregnancy, congenital infections, fetal growth restriction and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.

She had a fellowship with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE).  committed to the implementation of clinical guidelines in practice. She is the Lead author of the ISUOG guideline on the role of ultrasound in twins and congenital infections. She also led the guideline team developing the FIGO guideline on twin pregnancies. She was a member of the NICE Guideline Committee updating the Twin and Multiple Pregnancy guidance.