Dr Mackillop is one of only four specialists in this field in the country. She said, "There are an increasing number of pregnant women who need specialist support during their pregnancy. This is due to underlying health problems such as epilepsy, diabetes, asthma or a heart condition, as well as conditions specific to pregnancy, such as pre-eclampsia.
"These women are best cared for in the sort of specialist centre like the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, with specialist clinicians to care for them. At the moment, the John Radcliffe Hospital is the only hospital in the country, outside London, to have an Obstetric Physician."
Specific recommendations from the latest report include:
All women planning pregnancies that are likely to be complicated by potentially serious medical conditions should have pre-pregnancy counselling.
Women whose pregnancies are complicated by potentially serious medical conditions should be referred to appropriate specialist centres of expertise, where both care for their medical condition and their obstetric care can be optimised.
Doctors who do not work directly with pregnant women need to know more about the interaction between the conditions that they are treating and pregnancy.
The other centres in the country with an Obstetric Physician are: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust; University College Hospital, London and Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
The article was also welcomed by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)|.
Read the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) recommendations in 'High Quality Women's Health Care'.
http://www.rcog.org.uk/high-quality-womens-health-care|
Contact: Media and Communications Unit (media enquiries only)
Contact Details: 01865 231471