We are now accepting applications for a Clinical Research Fellow to support the work of pillar 1 of the ELEVATE programme – PREVENT: Prediction of the at-risk pregnancy and prediction of sentinel events before birth associated with early brain injury and cerebral palsy.

As part of its activities for Baby Loss Awareness Week, the Pregnancy Loss Research Group held a study day on Friday 11 October to showcase its latest research in pregnancy and infant loss. Over 80 people from across the South South West Hospital Group attended the educational event.

The Pregnancy Loss Research Group is currently inviting applicants for a PhD Scholarship funded by Féileacáin (The Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association of Ireland). The project is titled ‘Second trimester pregnancy loss - investigation, management and care’.

On the second day of Baby Loss Awareness Week, the Pregnancy Loss Research Group is launching a policy brief to support advocacy efforts around the introduction of workplace supports for people who experience pregnancy loss under 24 weeks. This summarises findings from the PLACES (Pregnancy Loss in Workplaces: Informing policymakers on support mechanisms) project, which was conducted by researchers at University College Cork and the University of Galway.

Driving evidence-informed change in policy and practice is a core part of our work at the Pregnancy Loss Research Group. As Baby Loss Awareness Week begins, we wish to take the opportunity to highlight some of the activities that we will be engaging in over the course of the week – as part of our ongoing efforts to effect change around all forms of pregnancy and infant loss.

Two hundred delegates attended a Fetal Medicine Study Day delivered by world-leading experts at University College Cork (UCC) on Friday 27 September. The event was hosted by the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, in collaboration with the International Fetal Medicine & Surgery Society (IFMSS) and RCSI, with support from the Health Research Board.

The 41^st meeting of the International Fetal Medicine & Surgery Society (IFMSS) is taking place at Castlemartyr, Co. Cork from 22-26 September. The 2024 meeting is organised by Prof Greg Ryan, President, IFMSS who is based at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ​Professor Keelin O’Donoghue is the local organiser and also organiser of the Fetal Medicine Study Day which will be held at Devere Hall, University College Cork on Friday, 27 September.

The National Clinical Guidelines are a programme of work agreed between the National Women and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP) and the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (IOG) of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI). Established in mid-2021, the Guideline Programme Team recently published its Summer 2024 Update. To date 20 guidelines have been launched under the new Guideline Programme (see details below) and a further 24 guidelines are under development.

The 15^th International Graphic Medicine Conference took place at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Athlone from 16-18 July. Attended by Professor Keelin O'Donoghue, Dr Brendan Fitzgerald and Marita Hennessy PhD, the event explored how to communicate complex medical information through comics and art, and included work from the Pregnancy Loss Research Group.

Professor Keelin O’Donoghue and Dr Alex Dakin attended and presented at the 28^th International Conference on Prenatal Diagnosis and Therapy, held in Boston from 07-10 July 2024.