Obstetric medicine clinic

If you, your midwife, hospital doctor or GP feels that you have, or are at risk of getting, a medical problem during pregnancy, you will be referred to our obstetric medicine clinic (OMC). This clinic is led by our consultant obstetricians Miss Joanna Girling and Miss Louise Page.

The OMC is a special clinic run by the highly experienced high risk team (known as the ‘H team’) for women who have conditions such as epilepsy, high blood pressure, blood clotting or bleeding tendencies, mental health problems and autoimmune issues.

At your first appointment we will usually ask about your medical history and try to work out if your medical problem may affect your pregnancy, or if being pregnant could affect your condition. Please bring all medication, medical notes and letters with you.

After your appointment we will send a detailed letter to you, your GP and any other medical specialists involved in your care, outlining what we think is needed to support your pregnancy. Some women only need a single appointment with us and can then continue to be seen by their usual team of midwives and doctors. Others will need to have some or all of their care with us.

We aim to make sure that you and your baby are in the best possible health during pregnancy so that your birth experience can be as straightforward as possible. If you have special requirements for labour we will develop a birth management plan with you to ensure we understand your goals.

We work closely with other colleagues at our hospitals and can get extra advice from them if we need to. For many women we can provide all the care needed for both the pregnancy and any medical condition all under one roof.

We are also committed to training and developing our staff so we can give every mother in our care the best possible experience. As such, we may offer you the opportunity to get involved in our research programmes. This is entirely optional, but we hope you will consider it if asked.