Before the 1960's knowledge of the intrauterine environment was like a black box, limiting clinical understanding, and monitoring of the fetus during pregnancy. Little was known about the fetus until after birth happened. Now that has changed dramatically, and there have been revolutionary advances, particularly in the last 20 years enabling clinicians to diagnose and treat problems which develop in the womb.
Professor Pippa Kyle, the recently appointed head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Otago University, will discuss these significant improvements in Maternal and Fetal Medicine in her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Wednesday April 14 at 7.30pm. The lecture, ÒThe developing fetus. When can problems occur and how can we intervene?Ó is part of the current Health Lecture Series and is open to the public.
As the South Island's first specialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine,Professor Kyle brings wide expertise to her role in diagnosing and managing difficult or abnormal pregnancies at Christchurch Women's Hospital. Previously she worked in a similar role as Consultant Obstetrician and Director of the Fetal Medicine Unit in Bristol, UK, and lectured at the University of Bristol. Her initial medical education was at the University of Auckland, followed by research and higher training in Oxford, Cambridge and London.
Professor Kyle's Inaugural Lecture outlines the major advances in fetal medicine over the last twenty years; the development of ultrasound, the understanding of fetal physiology, neonatal medicine, DNA technology and the genetic revolution, and the fetal origins of adult disease. She then focuses on a number of critical areas where complications can arise that once may have resulted in serious complications or miscarriage.