Keelin O’Donoghue has been recently promoted to Professor at UCC – a well deserved acknowledgement of her hard work in maternity services, education and research.  Professor O’Donoghue is a medical graduate of University College Dublin and a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists (RCOG), London and the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland (RCPI). She received her PhD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the University of London in 2005, following studies at Imperial College London. She completed RCOG sub-speciality training in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital London and was awarded RCOG sub-specialist accreditation in 2007.

Research led by Dr Fergus McCarthy, Consultant Obstetrician and Senior Lecturer, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and colleagues at the INFANT Research Centre have been awarded €118,877 in SFI funding in June 2020.  The research is for a pilot project that aims to reduce the number of hospital check-up visits for pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Keelin O’Donoghue, Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist and Senior Lecturer, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology is a key contributor to a number of national and international resources in relation to COVID-19 and maternity practice.

The approach to Final Medical Examinations in Obstetrics and Gynaecology had to be transformed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Students were no longer allowed access to hospitals, exams were condensed over one day rather than four and brought forward almost a month.

The first maternity directorate in Ireland announces their new brand identity:  Ireland South Women & Infants Directorate. 

UCC is the academic partner to the Ireland South Women & Infants Directorate and provides a framework for education, training, research and innovation across this network of four maternity hospitals/units – Cork University Maternity Hospital, University Hospital Kerry, Tipperary University Hospital and University Hospital Waterford.  

The Anu Research Medal is an honour that recognises exceptional research focused on the mother and the unborn baby.  This medal has been awarded by the Anu Research Centre, located in the UCC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, since 2005.

Final medical year students who have shown exceptional merit are rewarded and celebrated at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in University College Cork (UCC). Prof. John R. Higgins presented two students with their Anu Undergraduate medals in obstetrics and gynaecology on 31 May 2019, only the second time ever that such medals have been awarded.

The Health Service Executive South/South West Hospital Group would like to invite applications for the following post in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH)

• Senior Lecturer / Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist s.i. maternal-fetal medicine in CUMH for 19.5 hours per week and University College Cork, 19.5 hours per week

The Health Service Executive South/South West Hospital Group would like to invite applications for the following post in Cork University Maternity Hospital

• NCHD/Clinical Tutor, in association with UCC, includes an opportunity to achieve a MD or PhD – start date 8^th July 2019

Mr Kilian Mc Grane, National Programme Director of the National Women & Infants’ Health Programme, Health Service Executive, opened the Bereavement Forum on 2 March 2019, marking the completion of the two year Implementation Programme for the ‘National Standards for Bereavement Care Following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death’.  The day-long Forum brought together national and international experts along with healthcare professionals representing all 19 maternity hospitals to discuss the work of the implementation programme.

On a sunny Friday in February in UCC, three doctors graduated with an MSc in Obstetrics and Gynaecology:  Dr Zainab Ashraf, National Maternity Hospital and Dr Michelle McCarthy and Dr Sabina Tabirca, both CUMH. Congratulations to all!

In November 2018, the Neonatal Therapeutic Hypothermia in Ireland, Annual Report 2016-2017 was launched. The findings of this audit illustrate the logistical challenges faced with the delivery of a high acuity, uncommon treatment that has to be delivered on short notice. 

At the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in UCC, excellence is rewarded and celebrated. Final medical year students, Sinead Flanagan and Sinead O’Riordan were presented with the first Anu Undergraduate Gold and Scholar Medals in Obstetrics and Gynaecology respectively by Prof. John R. Higgins on 28 June 2018.

The prestigious Anu Research medal is awarded at the end of each academic year to doctors in training who present their research at the Anu Research meeting. Dr Karen McNamara beat 9 other entrants with her research titled ‘Serious Adverse Events in Obstetrics and Subsequent Effects on Clinical Activity and Health Care.’ 

The International Stillbirth Alliance Conference 2017 (ISA 2017) was held in Ireland for the first time.  Organised in University College Cork (UCC), the conference took place over two days from 22^nd to 24^th September, and received around 380 delegates coming from all corners of the world.