One-day advanced course in maternal medicine, aiming at registrars, fellows and consultants in obstetrics/perinatology, anaesthesiology, cardiology and internal medicine with an interest in pregnancy and childbirth.

Key note speaker is Catherine Nelson-Piercy, professor of obstetric medicine at Imperial College and consultant obstetric physician at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals, London, UK. She is a world leading specialist in the field. Her lectures are combined with practical sessions and multi-disciplinary approach of case discussions, organized by internal medicine and maternal-fetal medicine specialists from the Netherlands. Participants, presumed to be from the Netherlands and surrounding countries, are encouraged to bring their own case histories to discuss with the team. The course is organized together with and complementary to the maternal medicine course in Utrecht one week later, which aims to address an audience of midwives and general practitioners primarily. An additional aim of both days is to explore possibilities to launch a Netherlands Society of Obstetric Medicine together with organizers and interested participants.

Why this course? Pregnant women with pre-existing medical conditions present a challenge to treating physicians in order to guarantee best possible outcome for them and their children. They require a multi-disciplinary approach, requiring doctors from different disciplines to closely link and collaborate.

Course content: Combining theory and practice, lectures will be followed by case histories and clinical discussions with participants on diagnosis and management of women, with an emphasis on possible variations in management between clinics.