MBChB MRCOG
Biography
I have been a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist since 2017. I was born in Canterbury, qualified as a doctor from the University of Leicester in 2006 and trained in the South East where I now work and live with my family. I have a variety of roles within my NHS work mainly caring for women and birthing people with underlying medical disorders, previous pregnancy complications, birth trauma, mental health, multiple pregnancy and previous pregnancy loss. My role as Labour Ward lead means I work closely with the multiprofessional team that cares for people during labour such as midwives, anaesthetists and theatre staff and ensure woman and families have a positive birth experience whatever mode of birth or labour events that they may encounter. I teach and train Junior doctors and Midwives focusing on embedding good communication and teamwork to provide safe care during birth. Oak Tree Obstetrics was named due to my fascination for the beautiful tree like architecture of the placenta and the oak trees in my family garden growing up.
Testimonials
Our first baby was born at 37 weeks after a pretty straightforward pregnancy. 4 years later I sadly suffered an early miscarriage with our second baby which was a very prolonged process and hugely emotional for our family. Happily I then became pregnant again and all was moving along well until my waters broke at 24 weeks. We entered a whirlwind of emotions and uncertainty. I thankfully didn’t go into labour but baby was transverse so I was admitted into hospital for monitoring. Once baby was in a better position, I was allowed to be at home with twice weekly check ups for CTGs and scans. We were heading to a c-section after 34 weeks for the safety of us both which although I knew it was for the best, terrified me. Baby actually decided against this method as he arrived via a breech vaginal delivery (very speedy and dramatic!) at 33 weeks and spent 4 weeks in NICU getting some help breathing and growing. He’s now 6 months old and doing brilliantly – you wouldn’t know what we went through.
Having a baby is a rollercoaster at the best of times and luckily we personally had fantastic experiences with the NHS along our journey. However, we were looking for a knowledgeable professional, someone we trusted, to decode all of the information and provide us with sensible yet agile plans in our circumstance. Clare added an invaluable layer around us all to explain what was happening to me and baby, and what to expect as we travelled along this challenging path. Her medical support was expert, explaining all the terms, our options and what to expect next, and importantly, the emotional elements for our whole family were always at the forefront of her mind.
Overall we felt as prepared as possible in what was the most stressful period of our lives and we’ll forever be grateful to Clare for her input.
Rebecca