Tagged / midwifery

Prof. Hundley Associate Editor BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth

Featured academics, Publishing

Congratulations to BU Prof. Vanora Hundley who has been invited to become Associate Editor for BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.  BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth is an international journal with Open Access and it has a good Impact Factor (currently 2.83) in its field.    More details of BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth can be found at http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpregnancychildbirth/

 

Prof. Hundley joins Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen as Associate Editor, giving Bournemouth University a very good representation on the editorial team.

More about Prof. Hundley: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/vanora-hundley/16/b40/39b

WellBeing of Women – Two Calls

BU research, Funding opportunities

Research Training Fellowships

Wellbeing of Women in association with the RCOG invites applications for Research Training fellowships to encourage medical graduates to pursue a career in academic medicine.
 
The Fellowship must be undertaken in the UK or Eire and the research can be in basic science, clinical or translational research in one of the following three areas:

1. Gynaecological Cancers
2. Pregnancy and Birth including pre-term birth, miscarriage and fertility
3. Quality of Life issues including menopause, incontinence and prolapse, sexual health, menstrual disorders and endometriosis

The 2013 RTF round is now open. Applications must be received by Friday 7th September at 3pm

Fellowships are awarded for up to three years and cover the cost of a full time salary per annum for Specialty Registrars (or equivalent) and will be consistent with current NHS or academic scales.  Registration fees for a higher degree and reasonable research expenses may be allowed and should be specified in the application form.  The upper limit of this award is £200,000. Research Training Fellows will normally be expected to enrol for a higher degree.  A Fellowship will only be awarded to an applicant who has been accepted for a place in a department with established expertise in the specified field.  Candidates must also provide evidence of previous interest and a training component in research methodology.  Both the training and research project must be capable of being brought to a conclusion within the duration of the Fellowship.  Applications may be made for the financial support of work which is already in progress, or for a new project, provided a substantial element of training is provided during the course of the work.

Wellbeing of Women is delighted that our partnership with the Wellcome Trust which began in 2009 has continued. Suitable candidates may be considered by the Trust for the award of a Wellbeing of Women/Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship.

The award of a Fellowship is subject to the acceptance of the Wellbeing of Women’s Terms and Conditions for Research Grants and the following restrictions apply:

1.   Fellowships are not intended as a project grant and may not be used to fund sub-specialty training.

2.   Funds will not be released without evidence of ethical committee support.
3. 
WoW does not pay indirect costs.
4. 
Charges for administration by University or NHS Authorities will not be met.

The process:


Applications will be subject to external peer review.  Shortlisted applicants will be advised in late January and asked to attend for interview by members of the Wellbeing of Women Research Advisory Committee at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London usually in late January or early February . Reasonable interview expenses within the UK or Eire will be reimbursed. 

Shortlisted candidates will also be asked to formally agree to their application being considered by the Wellcome Trust, and may be asked to attend for interview at the Trust’s offices in London.These nominees will be required to sign up to the Wellcome Trust’s grant conditions, and any eventual award will be made in accordance with the Trust’s policy for costing Training Fellows.

Please complete the application form for Wellbeing of Women Research Training Fellowship 2013 and email a copy to Philip Matusavage at pmatusavage.wellbeingofwomen@rcog.org.uk. Please also send the original signed version to Philip Matusavage, Research Manager, 27 Sussex Place, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4SP to be received by 3:00pm on Friday 7th September 2012

Please read the Research Training Fellowship Guidelines before completing the application form. Your application may be rejected if it does not follow these guidelines.

Application   Guidelines

Entry Level Research Scholarships

Wellbeing of Woman in association with the RCOG, College of Midwives and the British Maternal Fetal Medicine Society, invites applications for Entry Level Scholarships to enable medical graduates to train in basic science, clinical or translational research in one of the following three areas:

1. Gynaecological Cancers
2. Pregnancy and Birth, including pre-term birth, miscarriage and fertility
3. Quality of Life issues; including menopause, incontinence and prolapse, sexual health, menstrual disorders and endometriosis

The research must be undertaken in the UK or Eire.  One scholarship is reserved for midwives.

The 2013 ELS Round is now open. Applications must be received by Friday 14th September at 3pm

They are pleased to announce that they are again joining with the Royal College of Midwives and the British Maternal Fetal Medicine Society in offering these scholarships.

Entry-Level Research Scholarships are to provide ‘pump-priming’ funds to enable trainees to be exposed to a research environment, or to obtain pilot data for bids for definitive funding. Applicants will normally be within the first few years of graduation, and would not previously have been involved in substantial research projects. Scholarships are a single payment up to a maximum of £20,000 to go towards salary and/or laboratory costs.

Successful completion of an Entry-Level Research Scholarship will be viewed positively should an applicant subsequently choose to apply for a Wellbeing of Women Research Training Fellowship.

The award of a Scholarship is subject to the acceptance of Wellbeing of Women’s Terms and Conditions for Research Grants, and the following restrictions apply:

1. Funds will not be released without evidence of ethics committee support.
2. The research must be undertaken in the UK or Eire. 
3. WoW does not pay indirect costs.
4. Charges for administration by University or NHS Authorities will not be met.
5. WoW does not cover University fees.
6. Midwives must be a full member of the RCM at the time of application and for the duration of the project
 
Please complete the application form for Wellbeing of Women/RCM/BMFMS Entry-Level Research Scholarship 2013 and email a copy to Philip Matusavage at pmatusavage.wellbeingofwomen@rcog.org.uk. Please also send the original signed version to Philip Matusavage, Research Manager, 27 Sussex Place, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4SP to be received by 3:00pm on Friday 14th September 2012
Please read the Entry-Level Research Scholarship Guidelines before completing the application form. Your application may be rejected if it does not follow these guidelines.
 

The RKE Operations team can help you with your application.

BUCRU – Seminar presenting Breaking News!

BU research, Post-award, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized

 

BREAKING  NEWS…

We would like to invite you to an afternoon seminar by one of our Visiting Faculty, Professor Mike Wee, presenting some exciting new research findings to come out of a recently completed Research for Patient Benefit funded study comparing two methods of pain relief during labour (abstract and biography below).  This paper was just voted best paper of the conference at the Obstetric Anaesthetists Association Annual Conference in Liverpool and was featured recently in the Bournemouth Echo http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9770928.Pain_relief_in_labour__study_at_Poole_hospital_makes_important_discovery/

The seminar is scheduled for Thursday 19th July 2-3pm in BG10 Bournemouth House (after the HSC end of term lunch and next door for your convenience).

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you then.

BUCRU

Website: http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/

Administrator: +44 (0)1202 961939 / wardl@bournemouth.ac.uk

Title: The IDvIP Trial: A two-centre double blind randomised controlled trial comparing i.m. diamorphine and i.m. pethidine for labour analgesia

Research team and affiliations: MYK Wee, JP Tuckey,* P Thomas,† S Burnard,* D Jackson.

Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Poole, UK, *Royal United Hospital, Bath, UK, †Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit, Bournemouth, UK.

Abstract:

Background: Intramuscular pethidine, the commonest parenteral opioid analgesic used in obstetrics and more recently diamorphine usage has increased in the UK.  The maternal, fetal and neonatal side effects are well known for pethidine but there are no sufficiently powered large RCTs comparing pethidine with diamorphine. The aim of this trial is to address this.

Methods: After ethical approval, informed consent was obtained from 484 women randomised to receive either 7.5mg diamorphine i.m. or 150mg pethidine i.m. for labour analgesia. The sample size calculation derived from a small RCT giving 90% power (at the 5% significance level) is based upon the maternal primary outcome measure of pain relief at 60mins and the neonatal primary outcome measures of Apgar Score of <7 at 1min and neonatal resuscitation. Secondary outcome measures include verbal pain intensity at 60mins and over 3hrs post-analgesia, pain relief over first 3hrs, maternal oxygen saturation, sedation, nausea and vomiting and maternal satisfaction with analgesia. Fetal and neonatal secondary outcomes include CTG trace, meconium staining, UApH, UVpH, time of delivery to first breath, Apgar Score at 5mins, naloxone use, neonatal oxygen saturations, sedation and feeding behaviour for the first 2hrs after delivery.

Results: Reported using CONSORT guidelines. At 60mins post-administration and over a 3hr period, diamorphine is better at reducing pain scores than pethidine (p<0.001). There were no statistical differences between the two groups regarding Apgar Scores of <7 at 1min and the need for neonatal resuscitation.  The time between first dose administered and delivery is on average 82mins longer with the diamorphine group compared to pethidine (p<0.001). The vast majority of women experienced moderate to severe pain at all times. Women receiving diamorphine were more satisfied with their analgesia. There were no statistically significant differences in maternal sedation, nausea and vomiting or oxygen saturations over the 3hr period. There were no statistically significant differences in the fetal and neonatal outcomes including feeding behaviour between the two groups within 2hrs of birth but neonates in the pethidine group were more likely to be moderately or severely sedated at delivery.

Discussion: Intramuscular 7.5mg diamorphine gives significantly better analgesia than 150mg pethidine but prolongs delivery by approx. 82mins.  Women given diamorphine are more likely to be satisfied with their analgesia.  The mechanism for the prolongation of delivery time in the diamorphine group should be investigated further.

Acknowledgement: This research was funded by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme (PB-PG-0407-13170).

References

1. Tuckey JP, Prout RE, Wee MYK. Prescribing intramuscular opioids for labour analgesia in consultant-led maternity units: a survey of UK practice. International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia 2008, 17(1):3-8.

2. Fairlie FM, Marshall L, Walker JJ et al. Intramuscular opioids for maternal pain relief for labour: a randomised controlled trial comparing pethidine with diamorphine. British  Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1999; 106(11): 1181 -1187.

Biography of speaker:

Michael Wee is a consultant anaesthetist from Poole Hospital and Royal Bournemouth Hospitals.  He has a special interest in obstetric anaesthesia and is the lead obstetric anaesthetist at Poole Hospital.  He is chair of the Research and Innovations Group at Poole Hospital and is a Board member of the Western Comprehensive Local Research Network.  He was awarded a visiting professorship at Bournemouth University in 2009.  He is a referee for several medical journals.  His research interests include patient information, safety in anaesthesia, maternal analgesia and simulation in epidural anaesthesia.  He is a co-supervisor of a PhD student at BU and chief investigator of the MObs study investigating early warning scores in obstetrics.