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Baby Lifeline Training
Clinical and Legal Professional Training
Who are Baby Lifeline?
| Patron: | Sir Ben Kingsley |
| Chief Executive: | Judy Ledger RGN Hon MA (MICFM) |
| President: |
Prof. James Drife, has been Professor of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology in Leeds since 1990. He is an Edinburgh graduate and
held posts in Bristol and Leicester before Leeds. |
| Co-President: |
Dame Lorna Muirhead, Immediate Past President of the Royal
College of Midwives, has represented midwives in many forums
nationally and internationally. This includes being on the
Council of the Kings Fund, being a member of the Senior Nursing,
Midwifery Advisory Committee which advises Government on issues
relating to midwifery, and being the RCM representative on the
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Council. |
TRUSTEES
| Mr Barry John Jervis LLB |
| Judy Ledger RGN Hon MA (MICFM) |
| Prof Edward John Shaxted FRCOG |
| Mr John Parkinson |
| Mr Patrick Bose MBBS BSc DIC PhD DFFP MRCOG |
HONORARY VICE PRESIDENTS
| Joanne, The Countess of Bradford |
| Dame Judi Dench |
| Kate Ford |
| Jimmi Harkishin |
| David Moorcroft OBE |
| Nick Owen |
| Dave Willetts |
| Diane Wilton MBE |
| Francesca Martinez |
MULTI PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY PANEL (MPAP)
| Professor Denis Azzopardi MD FRCP FRCPCH | Denis Azzopardi is Professor of Neonatal Medicine at Imperial College London and Consultant in Neonatal Medicine at Queen Charlotte and Chelsea Hospital London. For many years he has been involved in clinical research in the investigation, assessment and treatment of neonatal encephalopathy. He is the principal investigator of TOBY the MRC trial of whole body cooling which showed that moderate induced cooling improved intact survival at 18 months of age and is continuing to follow up the children. He is currently carrying out further studies of neuroprotection in preterm and full term infants, exploring both melatonin and xenon. |
| Edwin Chandraharan M.B.B.S. M.S (Obs & Gyn), MRCOG, DFFP, DCRM | Edwin works as the Lead Clinician for Labour Ward and Lead for Clinical Governance in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, London. He is an Honorary Senior Lecturer to St George’s University of London and currently Clinical Director of Women’s Services. He is passionate about delivering high quality patient care with a strong focus on Risk Management and Patient Experience.< He has been invited to both National and International Scientific Meetings to deliver lectures and seminars on fetal monitoring, obstetric emergencies, postpartum haemorrhage and on acute gynaecology and early pregnancy ultrasound. He has also conducted ‘Training the Trainers’’ Workshops. He is a peer reviewer for British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Journal of Perinatal Medicine, The Green Journal and European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and Consultant Editor for Labour and Delivery for the Global Library of Women’s Medicine. He has published several abstracts in National and International Scientific Meetings and over 60 Chapters and Review articles in various aspects of obstetrics and gynaecological practice. His special interests include intrapartum fetal monitoring and massive postpartum haemorrhage. He is the course coordinator for ‘CTG’ and ‘High Risk Labour and Intrapartum Emergencies’ courses at St. George’s University of London and Course Lead for the Baby Lifeline CTG Masterclasses. Currently, he is a co-organizer of RCOG Intrapartum Fetal Surveillance Course and is on the Editorial Board of the National e-learning on fetal monitoring. |
| Professor James Drife MD FRCOG FRCPE FRCSE FCOGSA FFSRH | James Drife, a graduate of Edinburgh University, is now emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynaecology of the University of Leeds. He has been vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and chairman of the Academic Association of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and for eleven years he was an elected member of the General Medical Council. From 1992 to 2011 he was a national assessor for the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths. He is a consultant to the World Health Organisation, working in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. He is Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynacology and Reproductive Biology and writes regularly for the British Medical Journal. His wife is a retired GP, their son is a lawyer and their daughter is a psychiatrist. |
| Mr Kim Hinshaw MB BS FRCOG | Kim Hinshaw has been a Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist at Sunderland Royal Hospital since 1994 and Director of Research & Development for the Trust since 2010. He has clinical and research interests in high-risk pregnancy, intrapartum care and obstetric skills-drills training and is a member of both the Intrapartum Care, and Fetal Medicine Clinical Studies Groups. He is a member of the UKOSS Steering Committee (2010 onwards) and is Chair of the RCOG Curriculum Committee (2009 onwards). Kim has had a long-term interest in postgraduate training in obstetrics and gynaecology. He was past-Chairman of ALSO (Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics) UK and is presently a Vice-Chair for the MOET (Managing Obstetric Emergencies and Trauma) UK Working Group. He supports the Swinfen Telemedicine Charitable Trust as a medical advisor for obstetrics and is a Charity Trustee for ALSO UK and the Advanced Life Support Group (ALSG). He has been a leading clinical training advisor for Baby Lifeline for the last 10 years. |
| Barbara Kuypers | Barbara has been a registered midwife since 1982 and once qualified worked for the first six years of her career overseas with various development agencies including Voluntary Service Overseas and Save the Children Fund. On her return to the UK, she continued as a Midwifery Adviser for the charities, International Health Exchange & RedR and now with Baby Lifeline. She has a Masters Degree in Medical Anthropology. In 1988, she took up a Community Midwifery post working in the east-end of London and from 1992 she held various management roles with the Maternity Services at The Royal London Hospital. Since 1998 she has held Head of Service positions for various Trusts with both Women and Children's' Services and also as Head of Nursing for Accident & Emergency and General Medicine Services. In January 2006, Barbara became a Midwifery Adviser with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and facilitated work around reviewing the Local Supervising Authorities and leading the consultation on Standards for Supervised Practice of Midwives. In July 2007, she took up her current role as the Local Supervising Authority Midwifery Officer for West Midlands providing support and guidance for 15 Trusts that provide Maternity Services across the West Midlands region. |
| Mrs Judy Ledger RN Hon MA | Founder and Chief Executive Baby Lifeline Charity and Training Judy qualified as a state registered nurse in 1978 in Coventry. She worked as a staff nurse in accident and emergency ITU, then cardio thoracic ITU and neurosurgery ITU until leaving to work as a corporate medical representative specialising in intra operative cardio vascular products in one third of the UK. Just before qualifying Judy lost three babies consecutively - all born prematurely and died as a result of this. She wanted to do something to help with her grief and to also support the professionals who cared for her and so started to fundraise for the Coventry Maternity Hospital concerned. Baby Lifeline began in 1979 and became incorporated and registered as a charity in 1981, just before the birth of her first son Richard. Thanks to excellent professional care and a great deal of clinical intervention, Judy has three children - Richard 29, James 25, and Sara 22. Her life was very manic for many years (still is) either working as a nurse or representative and fundraising, and caring for her family. In 1997 Judy was conferred with an honorary Master of Arts degree from Coventry University - in recognition of her work to support maternity services. In 2010/2011 she received three awards, The Independent on Sunday - Happy List 2011, The Forum 3 Alternative Rich List, and Pride of Britain Award - for fundraiser 2010. |
| Mr Tim Ledger | Expertise Tim has acted for the majority of the country's biggest house builders, as well as for many private builders and developers. Tim is head of firm's residential development team. Tim has enviable and lengthy experience in dealing with all aspects of the acquisition and disposal of consented and unconsented land, strategic land, consortium and partnering agreements as well as complex urban regeneration and planning agreements. Successes
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| Christopher Melton QC | Christopher Melton has practiced in all aspects of medical and personal injury law throughout his career. He was Senior Counsel to the Shipmen Inquiry between 2001 and 2005, appointed by the Treasury Solicitor. He is instructed by specialist firms nationwide and spends a significant proportion of his time appearing and advising in London as well as in the regions.
Christopher Melton specialises in advising and appearing in cases involving seriously, catastrophically or fatally injured. He regularly appears in Court, both at first instance and at appellate level. His current caseload encompasses the whole range of issues that arise in these cases. He has significant expertise at appellate level. He has a particular interest in the analysis of medical, financial and scientific expert evidence and exploring the interface between the law and science. Although the mainstay of his practice involves brain, spinal and fatal injury, particularly cerebral palsy in the clinical negligence sphere, he has an ongoing interest in cases involving upper and lower limb amputations. He has been recognised as a leading practitioner in his chosen fields over many years. He occasionally ventures into the criminal courts, both prosecuting and defending, where medical or scientific evidence is at the fore. He frequently appears at inquests, an area of the law in which he gained in-depth knowledge on the Shipman Inquiry. He has advised or appeared in numerous multi-party claims, including group actions arising out of product liability for asbestos, sexual abuse by medical practitioners and physical and sexual abuse in care homes. The professional liability work undertaken is against medical professionals and lawyers; the claims against lawyers involve multifarious failures appropriately to prosecute clinical negligence and personal injury claims. |
| Dr. Sarah Melford | Sarah trained at Leicester University, and as part of her Foundation Training (post qualification) then worked on the Neonatal unit, in General Practice. Sarah also worked in General Surgery and General Medicine. Her training started in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2009, and she is currently a Registrar in this field at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. |
| Dr Felicity Plaat | Felicity, is a senior clinical advisor for Baby Lifeline, is a Lead Clinician & Consultant Anaesthetist at Queen Charlotte's and The Hammersmith Hospitals. She is an Honorary Senior lecturer at the Imperial College School of Medicine, Honorary Secretary of the Obstetric Anaesthetists Association, Treasurer of the Group of Obstetric Anaesthetists in London, and an external advisor for the NICE Guideline development group. Her specialist interests include Obstetric Anaesthesia and Analgesia, the high risk obstetric patient, mobile regional analgesia for labour, risk management, consent & ethics in anaesthesia and resuscitation training in obstetrics. Felicity is an instructor for Managing Obstetric Emergencies & Trauma (MOET), Neonatal Resuscitation, Advanced Life Support and the Generic instructors Course. |
| Mrs Anne Richley | Since qualifying as a midwife thirteen years ago Anne has been passionate about normal birth and helping to make sure that the experience of birth is a positive one for women and their partners. She helped to set up Northampton's homebirth team, which was launched two years ago and helped to write the guidelines and care pathways as part of the ground work. The team won the RCM award for Implementing Government Policy (2011), and went to Westminster to receive the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Maternity award for Team of the year (2011). Northampton currently has a homebirth rate of around 7%, one of the highest in the UK. Anne has facilitated several study days on how to set up a homebirth team, and spoken at national conferences helping other trusts to increase their homebirth rates and offer real choice for women. She writes a monthly feature for Practical Parenting Magazine, and has written several books of pregnancy and birth. caring for she is currently studying for an MSc in Leadership. |
| Professor Edward Shaxted DM FRCOG | Edward Shaxted has been a consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Northampton General Hospital since 1984 and was the Clinical Director of that unit from 2004 until 2009. From 2009 to 2011 he was the Clinical Lead for Research and Development. His earlier career was in the Royal Air Force as both a general practitioner and an obstetrician. Having worked abroad in Australia, Cyprus and in the Middle East, Professor Shaxted was the first overseas doctor to visit Kuwait on an educational basis after Desert Storm, and until recently has been a regular visitor to that country running training courses for various private, ministry and oil company hospitals. He has held the position of Visiting Professor at Cranfield University, and that of a surgical trainer recognised by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. His principle current interests are in short stay endoscopic surgery and medico-legal issues in obstetrics and gynaecology. He is a Trustee and clinical advisor to Baby Lifeline - the mother and baby charity supporting maternity services. |
| Professor Brian Toft O.B.E. BA (Hons), Dip Comp Sci (Cantab), PhD, ICDDS Dipl, FIOSH, FIIRSM, Hon FICPEM, FRSA |
Educated at the Universities of Lancaster, Exeter and Cambridge Brian Toft is Patron of the Birth Trauma Association, Emeritus Professor of Patient Safety at Coventry University, visiting Professor of Patient Safety at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Chairman of the NPSA External Reference Groups for Safer Neuraxial Devices and holds several senior advisory positions including membership of the World Health Organisation's European Regional Advisory Council on patient safety and healthcare. Brian was the first non-physician to chair an external inquiry into the death of a patient in the National Health Service. He was presented with the Royal College of Radiologists Glyn Evans Memorial Lecture Medal for his work on 'involuntary automaticity' and was awarded an OBE for his services to healthcare in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours List. |
| Professor Cathy Warwick CBE | Cathy Warwick CBE is General Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), one of the world's oldest and largest midwifery organisations, representing the majority of the UK's midwives. Cathy began her career by gaining a nursing degree at Edinburgh University in 1975. She then completed the one year midwifery course at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in London in 1976, and worked as a midwife across a variety of clinical settings in hospitals and in the community. She has held a number of senior posts in midwifery education and in the NHS managing midwifery and nursing services. Prior to joining the RCM she was Director of Midwifery and General Manager for Women & Children's Services at King College Hospital in London. She has an MSc in Social Policy, an Advanced Diploma in Midwifery (ADM) and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education of Adults. Her work has led to invitations to sit on many national maternity policy committees, and she has been Chair of the Midwifery Committee at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and Chair of the maternity working group contributing to the Darzi report, Healthcare for London. Cathy has also written and published widely on midwifery issues and lectures and speaks nationally and internationally. She was awarded a visiting professorship by King's College, London in 2004, She received a CBE for Services to Healthcare in 2006, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from St George's and Kingston University, London in 2007. |


