Maternal and Neonatal Health Working Group

TBC

Daghni Rajasingam is a consultant obstetrician with a specialist interest in high risk maternal

care, who is passionate about reducing health and gender inequalities. Daghni is Deputy

Medical Director at Guys and St Thomas Hospital Foundation Trust with a portfolio for

leadership development, quality improvement and resilience and is the Regional Lead

Obstetrician for South-East of England. She is a maternity clinical advisor to the Healthcare

Safety Investigation Branch. Daghni has a Masters in Leadership and Partnership Working

and has an honorary readership with Kings College London in Healthcare Management and

Leadership.

She is an accredited Executive Coach and trained mediator in alternative dispute resolution.

She is actively involved in research and training for resilient healthcare professionals and is

the senior clinical lead for Care Redesign Improvement System (the improvement system at

Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital Foundation Trust).

She was an elected Council member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

(RCOG) and is a RCOG trustee board member. Daghni is also an official spokesperson for the

RCOG. She was the national lead for inclusion and a council member of the Faculty of

Medical Leadership and Management. She was co-chair for the South-East London Local

Maternity System and supported integration of the maternity governance framework within

the Integrated Care System.

Daghni was NHS London’s clinical lead for leadership development, clinical lead for London’s

Clinical Leadership Network and a member of the National Task Force for senior female

medical leadership. She helped develop the CLN REAL, promoting BAME leadership within

the NHS and developed the CLN/ National Clinical Commissioning Group Congress 2011. She

was listed in the 2013 HSJ BME Pioneers list and 2014 HSJ Inspirational Women in

Healthcare Awards

Clo is the founder of Prosperitys – a maternal well-being social enterprise which supports Black Ethnic Minority parents. Prosperitys focuses on early intervention, perinatal mental health awareness and social isolation. She is also the MVP chair at St Thomas hospital and an Expert by Experience for NHSE/I 

In 2020 Five x More launched the petition “Improve Maternal Mortality Rates and Health Care for Black Women in the U.K.” which gained over 187,000 signatures, leading Black maternal health to be discussed in parliament for the first time in its history. 

Clo and Tinuke (co-founder) have been named in HSJ’s ‘50 most influential people in health’ 2022 list as well as  

‘Black History Makers’ by Good morning Britain, ‘Force for Change’ by British Vogue, “Woman changing the World” by the Evening Standard and ‘Future Shaper’s’ by Marie Clair. Five X More has been featured in several newspapers and media outlets speaking on Black maternal health as a means of keeping it high on the agenda, to continue to make positive changes. 

Kanar is a registered Dietitian and visiting Associate Professor (LSBU) currently working in public health, health inequalities and inclusive system development. 

Tinuke is a mother and founder of Learning with Ez – specialising in diverse educational resources for children as well as Mums & Tea – a social platform aimed at connecting Black mums together. 

In 2020 Five x More launched the petition “Improve Maternal Mortality Rates and Health Care for Black Women in the U.K.” which gained over 187,000 signatures, leading Black maternal health to be discussed in parliament for the first time in its history. 

Clo (co-founder) and Tinuke have been named in HSJ’s ‘50 most influential people in health’ 2022 list as well as  

‘Black History Makers’ by Good morning Britain, ‘Force for Change’ by British Vogue, “Woman changing the World” by the Evening Standard and ‘Future Shaper’s’ by Marie Clair. Five X More has been featured in several newspapers and media outlets speaking on Black maternal health as a means of keeping it high on the agenda, to continue to make positive changes. 

Peter leads the delivery of services for Bliss, the national charity for babies born premature or sick. Bliss aims to improve the chances of all survival of babies born premature or sick in the UK, and recognises that inequalities of access, experience and outcomes exist across neonatal care. Bliss is committed to tackling these inequalities through inclusive practice, influencing practice to put the needs of diverse families at the centre of care, changing policy to recognise and address inequalities, and by delivering inclusive, evidence based, representative and accessible services, informed by the diverse experiences of service users and sick and premature babies. With a background working amongst marginalised and monitorised communities, Peter leads Bliss to support families, to improve healthcare practice, and tackle inequalities across Bliss’ work.   

A highly motivated leader, clinician and academic with a wealth of experience in education and training, and success in the public, voluntary and private sectors.. Has cross sector wealth of experience ensuring quality of delivery and using service user feedback to inform services redesign and transformation. Significant experience of working with a variety of stakeholders including public, private and voluntary community and social enterprise sector. Faye works at National level across a number of Health Inequality strands as Chair and also Chairs regional and local maternity Boards for the North West of England. Faye is a Non-Executive Director for Quality and Safety and Maternity at an NHS Trust. Is a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester 

Ngozi Edi-Osagie was appointed as a consultant neonatologist in 2002 after training in London and Manchester.  She is an honorary senior lecturer at University of Manchester and is also Group Associate Medical Director for professional matters providing leadership and support for doctors with professional concerns within the 10 hospitals that make up Manchester Foundation Trust  

She has broad clinical and leadership experience, having been a clinical director and head of division of newborn services which encompasses a neonatal transport service, a local neonatal unit and a neonatal intensive care unit 

She was the clinical lead for the development of a single hospital service across the city of Manchester overseeing the merge of three NHS trusts bringing together 10 hospitals and community services. She chaired the subcommittee on data and capacity for the Neonatal Transformation Review. She is the National Specialty Adviser for Neonatal Critical Care, and is a member of the maternity transformation programme board. She is the Royal college of Paediatrics and child health (RCPCH) officer for Genomics representing RCPCH on the steering group for the implementation of whole genome sequencing screening in England. She also sits on the Equality and diversity committees of the RCPCH and the General Medical Council (GMC). She is involved in external investigations and peer review of clinical services. She is the Co-chair of the community collaborative partnership between MFT and the Greater Manchester Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN) and is also a medical advisor for this organisation  

Dr Christine Ekechi is an obstetrician and early pregnancy Consultant based at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare.  Dr Ekechi has an additional focus on the gender and racial inequalities continually present within the health system. She is a vocal advocate for a life course and equitable approach to women’s health, to which she has spoken extensively, in national and international media, academically and politically. 

Dr Ekechi is the Co-Chair of the Race Equality Taskforce at the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, the first of its kind within any medical college and sits as a Member of the Maternity Working Group for the NHS Race and Health Observatory. 

Dr Ekechi is Trustee for the gynaecology cancer charity, The Eve Appeal and is their Medical Ambassador. Dr Ekechi is equally focussed on maternity safety and serves on the Multi-Professional Advisory Panel for Baby Lifeline – a UK charity focused on the supportive care of pregnant women and newborn babies. 

Dr Ekechi holds a Masters in Reproductive Health Research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and her previous public health experience includes working with the UN, UNICEF, and national governments in the UK, Nigeria, Senegal, Malawi and Kenya. Using this extensive experience, Dr Ekechi is particularly interested in the social drivers that underpin inequity in individual health outcomes, health knowledge and education, and healthcare delivery. 

Dr Christine Ekechi is the Founder and Director of Early Pregnancy Plus, an innovative holistic early pregnancy care service in central London. 

Janet Fyle is the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Professional Policy Advisor. She is a Registered Practicing Midwife, a Registered Nurse, and a Cardiff University School of Policy & Law accredited Expert Witness.  

Through her advice to the RCM, she partners with stakeholders on key policy areas of women’s and children’s health and well-being. Her interests lie in inequalities in maternity care and outcomes in their wider social, political, and economic contexts. Her work highlights how these issues have a direct and disproportionate impact on women and families, particularly those from BME communities.  

Janet has for years played a leading role in national campaigns for change on wider health issues, for equal access to services for marginalised communities, and for improved pregnancy outcomes for Black, Asian, and ethnic minority women. Her publications, collaborations, and media appearances have advocated improved services for women with pregnancy-related mental illness and the safeguarding of children from exploitation. Janet has also worked on people trafficking and developed resources with others for midwives and maternity services to be aware and provide sensitive care and services for women and girls who have been trafficked into the UK. 

 Janet is an advocate for ending violence against women and girls (domestic abuse, child marriage, forced marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, honour abuse, and modern slavery).  She led the development and publication of the Intercollegiate Recommendations for Identifying, Recording, and Reporting FGM, which was the catalyst for changes to the UK law on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Most recently, she campaigned successfully with others for legislation to ban virginity testing.  She co-scripted and produced 5 animated films, on the health and psychological consequences of FGM and the role of men in ending FGM in affected communities. The films are translated into 4 local languages. 

Prof Gina Awoko Higginbottom MBE was appointed in 2015 as the Mary Seacole Professor of Ethnicity and Community Health at the University of Nottingham – the first nurse of BME origin to hold a professorship in a Russell Group university in England and is now Professor Emerita. Formerly a Canada Research Chair in Ethnicity and Health (renewed)  for 8 years at the University Alberta, Canada the faculty ranked #1 for nursing in Canada. The first women of colour to hold a CRC awarded in 2007, the CRC award is a marker of research excellence. She holds a substantial track record of publication and substantial grant acquisition in the UK and Canada leading 16 externally funded grants as Principal Investigator funders include NIHR, CIHR, DoH, WUN and the NHS Race and Health Observatory. She is a recipient of a number of prestigious awards including a National Primary Care Research Fellowship which supported her PhD the first health visitor to receive this award. She has held visiting professorships at Karolinska Institute,Sweden, the University of Pennsylvania, University of California Davis, Seattle University, US and the University of Sao Paolo, Federal University, Brazil.

Katherine Letley is a registered midwife and was employed by City of Sanctuary UK in 2020 to coordinate and develop the Maternity Stream of Sanctuary. Katherine has an MA in International Development and is working towards her PhD at City University of London exploring the relationship between midwives and Syrian refugees. Katherine is a Network Advisory Council Member for VITA network on advancing the health response to modern slavery. Katherine also works as a Midwifery Lecturer for the University of East Anglia. 

 ‘People seeking sanctuary’ is a term used to include refugees, asylum-seekers, undocumented migrants, irregular migrants and victims of human trafficking. 

The Maternity Stream of Sanctuary is a network of charities, people with lived experience, health care professionals, researchers and educators working across the UK to improve the experiences of women seeking sanctuary accessing maternity care. We have a Maternity Stream of Sanctuary Award Accreditation programme which is open to applications from any organisation (third sector or NHS) working in this area. There is a robust assessment criteria  

and successful award accreditation is recognition of the organisations’ commitment to removing inequalities within maternity services and improving birth experiences for women seeking sanctuary in the UK. Our awarded organisations include Happy Baby Community (London based) and Amma Birth Companions (Glasgow based) – both which provide volunteer doula services for women in need. 

Dr Amali Lokugamage is a consultant obstetrician (2005-2023) and gynaecologist (2005-present) and an honorary associate professor, at the Institute of Women’s Health, UCL, London, UK. She has been a long-standing advocate in respectful maternity care, human rights in healthcare, equality/diversity and decolonisation. Amali has authored two books on birth: The Heart in the Womb and Within the Pregnant Pause. As a senior medical educator she has won several educational awards.

She regards patient engagement/patient experience as essential in sculpting of health services. She is a Board Director of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organisation (IMBCO) which is an organisation that partnered with FIGO to produce the respectful maternity care International Childbirth Initiative (ICI). The ICI is concerned with maternal safety which is grounded in human rights and kindness and compassion as well as supportive working environments for staff.

Benash Nazmeen is a Midwife, a mentor and currently working in Midwifery Education. She is passionate about addressing health inequalities & invested in improving maternity services for those we care for and those who work in them.
She has co-designed and runs Cultural Competency and Safety Workshops for maternity Health care professionals. This successful course has been used as a case study of good practice for the NHS Equity and Equality  Guidance for Local Maternity Systems, September 2021. 

As Chair of Sheffield Maternity Cooperative she is working to provide alternative spaces for advocacy, support and safe spaces for black and brown communities. 

She co-founded The Association of South Asian Midwives (ASAM), they work to support marginalised midwives & raise awareness of barriers faced by diverse communities. 

Benash was also the Co-Chair for the Racial Injustice in UK Maternity Services Inquiry by Birth Rights Charity. 

She is a specialist advisor with CQC for Midwifery &  Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. She sits on the MBRRACE-UK  Perinatal Confidential Enquiry Review Panel, the RHO maternity stakeholder group & is a trustee for the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust. Benash is a Fellow for the Royal College of Midwives, has been shortlisted for the “RCM Race Matters awards 2021” and Winner of the “Ground-breaking Researcher” award at the BAME Health & Care awards 2022. 

Wendy Olayiwola has strong self-belief values, personal development, philanthropy, mentoring, supporting others, just as passionately promoting and advocating f or equalities among black and minority ethnic groups.

Wendy is a registered nurse and practising midwife with more than two decades of active, fruitful and broadened years of service in the community and public health. The recognition and influence of her abilities reach, impact and touch several spheres within and outside the United Kingdom. Wendy is well seasoned in articulating and participating in diverse roles involving the hospital, community, private health, and wellbeing. She is very passionate about supporting and empowering nurses and midwives to provide culturally sensitive and holistic care for women and their families. Wendy has held various senior operational and specialist positions and project management roles in maternity. She was appointed into her current role as the National Maternity Lead for Equality NHS England in February 2021.

Jane Sandall is a Professor of Women’s Social Science and Women’s Health at King’s College London and currently head of Midwifery and Maternity Research at NHS England and Improvement  

She is an NIHR Senior Investigator and has a clinical background in nursing, health visiting and midwifery and an academic background in social sciences. Her research has investigated implementation of open disclosure in perinatal care, how midwife continuity of care may improve quality of care for women at higher risk of pre-term birth and innovations in how services are delivered to improve safety, quality, and women’s experience.  

She is leading the implementation evaluation research theme in the Tommys National Centre for Maternity Improvement developing a clinical decision tool to reduce improve preterm birth and stillbirth. She is leading the maternity and Perinatal mental Health theme in NIHR ARC South London and leads research on reducing inequalities in care and outcomes for women and babies. She is a member of NIHR CRIBBS Global Health Group to prevent maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity in Sierra Leone. 

She is a member of WHO STAGE Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) on Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Nutrition and contributes to a range of NIHR and MRC research boards. 

Her research findings have informed English, Scottish, US, Brazilian, Irish and Australian reviews of maternity services and WHO.  

Dr Sarah Tade is a GP registrar, saxophonist, author and certified life coach. Dr Tade founded her own life coaching academy which has been endorsed by the NHS clinical entrepreneur programme. Sarah has been recognised as a future leader in the UK when selected for the pathway to success leadership programme sponsored by the House of Commons and Oxford University- the Blavatnik School of government. 

As a primary care doctor and health equity advocate, Sarah has a special interest in tackling healthcare inequalities, in particular Women’s health. Sarah has engagement in numerous community initiatives to help promote maternal health and wellbeing.  Her work within society has shaped her philosophy and practice that every individual has the right to experience clinical care that is delivered to the standards of best and safe practice. 

Sarah is also the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion lead for the Essex faculty of the Royal College of General Practitioners. She aids in strategic planning to improve the experience of General Practitioners from marginalised backgrounds. 

Ranee Thakar MD FRCOG became President of the RCOG on 9 December 2022. Ranee is a Consultant Obstetrician and Urogynaecologist at Croydon University Hospital and Honorary Senior Lecturer, St George’s University of London. She is an experienced leader with a clear understanding of the operational, clinical and training demands facing the specialty today. 

Ranee has a long-standing commitment to the RCOG, having fulfilled a number of important roles including Secretary of the British Society of Urogynaecology, honorary director of conferences, and Council representative for South Asia. 

Most recently, Ranee was Senior Vice President for Global Health, from 2019-2022. Under her leadership, the RCOG global health team secured funding to implement the Essential Gynaecology Skills programme in Bangladesh and she also led the Making Abortion Safe programme, which promotes safe abortion and contraception in five sub-Saharan countries. Maintaining these programmes and expanding the RCOG’s global initiatives, to improve the health of women and girls globally, will remain a priority for Ranee throughout her Presidency. 

Ranee has a proven track record for supporting colleagues and has been co-chair of the RCOG Race Equality Taskforce since 2020. She has led her workstream to deliver several essential initiatives including an e-learning module on tackling racism, a tool kit on differential attainment and a coaching programme to develop champions who will provide continuing support to the RCOG membership.  Ranee will continue to lead the RCOG’s work to tackle inequalities across women’s health as one of her Presidential priorities.