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Welcome to the third episode of season six, in conversation with Professor Cathy Cluver.

Professor Cluver's Bio:

Professor Cathy Cluver is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine subspecialist and clinician researcher. She founded and continues to lead the Preeclampsia Research Unit at Stellenbosch University (www.preeclampsiaresearch.org). This Research Unit is a multidisciplinary multinational research collaboration focussing on understanding and treating preeclampsia. Cathy is currently running her third double blind interventional treatment trial for preterm preeclampsia (PI3 trial), a multicentre preeclampsia prevention trial (APPLE PIE) and studies investigating novel therapeutics to treat preeclampsia (DM199). She is also supervising PhD projects in fetal growth restriction and preterm birth.

Cathy obtained her MMed in 2011 cum laude and was awarded both the Daubenton Medal for outstanding results in the Fellowship examination of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the medal for the Best Postgraduate Student for a Structures Masters Qualification at Stellenbosch University. In 2013 she undertook a Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship at Mercy Hospital for Women, in Melbourne Australia. She then completed her subspecialist training in South Africa in 2016. After completing her PhD in 2019, she was appointed as an associate professor. In 2023 she was appointed as a full professor at Stellenbosch University. She is the youngest appointed professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In 2023 she was awarded the Women in Research Award by Stellenbosch University.

She has over 100 publications including publications in the Lancet, BMJ, Lancet Global and Cochrane Library. She has published extensively in leading Obstetrics and Gynaecological journals including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gyneacology. She has also presented invited plenary sessions at many international and national conferences.

Cardiac outflow anomalies chart:

https://www.facebook.com/isuog.org/posts/we-are-pleased-to-share-the-fetal-cardiac-outflow-tract-anomalies-chart-with-a-f/10152822749322051/

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 X, Bluesky 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 six, in conversation with Professor Tom Shakespeare.

Professor Shakespeare's Bio:

Tom Shakespeare is a sociologist and bioethicist. He is Professor of Disability Research at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, having worked at several UK universities and WHO. He is a former member of Nuffield Council on Bioethics and Arts Council England. His books include The Sexual Politics of Disability (1996) and Disability Rights and Wrongs (2006) and most recently the novels The Ha-ha (2024) and The Ends (2025).

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics report that we discussed is called Non-invasive prenatal testing: ethical issues and can be found via this link: https://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/publication/non-invasive-prenatal-testing-ethical-issues/

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 X, Bluesky 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 first episode of season six, in conversation with Dr Emma Ferriman.

Dr Ferriman's Bio:

Dr Ferriman graduated from Liverpool Medical School in 1990. From 2001 to 2016, she served as a Consultant in Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine in Leeds, before taking up her current role in Sheffield in 2016.

She currently holds the role of President of the British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society (BMFMS), Her clinical expertise spans high-risk pregnancies, multile pregnancies, prenatal diagnosis and screening.

In addition to her medical practice, Emma is actively involved in medicolegal work, serving as an adviser to the General Medicine Council (GMC) and the Medical Protection Society (MPS). She is also an editor and author, contributing to various medicolegal publications.

Some of the things we discussed included:

BMFMS: https://www.bmfms.org.uk/default.aspx

The next BMFMS conference will be on 26-27 March in Leeds, UK, and registration and abstract submission is open now: https://bmfmsconference.co.uk/2026/en/page/home

Dr Anthony Hart, paediatric neurologist, who has published many papers including Hart et al (2021) Antenatal counselling for prospective parents whose fetus has a neurological anomaly: part 1, experiences and recommendations for service design (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dmcn.15022)

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 X, Bluesky or Instagram via @fetalmedcast.

Music by Crowander ('Acoustic romance') used under creative commons licence. Podcast created, hosted and edited by Dr Jane Currie.