It is with great pleasure that I am inviting you to the International Conference on Perinatal and Hospice Care, taking place on Saturday 30th January 2016, in the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin 2.  The conference will focus on the medical and holistic care of women who are told their baby might not live long after birth or may indeed die in utero.

The conference will discuss revolutionary treatments that could potentially influence how we manage life threatening conditions such as Bilateral Renal Agenesis, and on advances in fetal cardiac surgery that are changing the outlook for babies with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.

Speakers will present on how to provide optimal care to families who are carrying to term a baby who has a poor prognosis of life, including perinatal hospice and neonatal palliative care, and will also hear from patients on their experiences of being given such a diagnosis.

Some of our noted conference speakers will include Dr. Paula Kelly, (Clinical Nurse Specialist in Neonatal Palliative medicine, Great Ormond Street Hospital); Dr. Wayne Twoertzky, MD, (Director of Fetal Cardiology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Associate Professor Harvard Medical School); and Dr. Meredith Birsner, MD, (Assistant Professor, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University); among others.

News that a baby will not live for long after birth can be profoundly difficult for a family to hear and for any clinician to have to deliver. Guiding one’s patients throughout the pregnancy, delivery and after birth can also be difficult, especially in the rapidly changing fields of medicine. This conference will be hugely rewarding for all healthcare providers who work in such specialised areas as palliative care, neonatology, obstetrics and general practice.

I would like to invite you to this meeting, which is being organised by a number of Irish and international support groups. It will be an invaluable experience to all clinicians and support staff involved in the care and treatment of pregnant women who are facing such a difficult diagnosis for their baby.

I hope you are able to accept this invitation and I look forward to hearing from you.

I would also like to wish you & yours a very Happy New Year,

Sincerely,

Dr. Eamon P.J McGuinness MA, FRCPI, FRCOG.
Former Chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists Ireland