Presenter: Alex Heazell (University of Manchester), Emily Price (Healthy Birth Day, Inc.), Bob Silver (University of Utah), & Adrienne Gordon (University of Sydney)
Date: 10/12/24
Brief Description: Discusses stillbirth equity through the lens of fetal movement monitoring and existing disparities in recommendations and procedures
Keywords/Main Subjects: Equity, fetal movement monitoring
Slides: View / download (Heazell), View / download (Price), View / download (Gordon)
Copyright: copyright Alex Heazell, Emily Price, Bob Silver, & Adrienne Gordon ©2024
Alexander Heazell
Dr. Alexander Heazell is Professor of Obstetrics and Director of the Tommy’s Stillbirth Research Centre, University of Manchester, UK and the Regional Lead Obstetrician for the North-West of England. He graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2000 and began his clinical training in the West Midlands before completing his PhD in Manchester in 2008. His research portfolio includes basic science, clinical and qualitative research studies to gain a better understanding of causes and consequences of placental dysfunction, to prevent stillbirth and improve care for parents after stillbirth or perinatal death. Dr Heazell has received over £4M of grant income and has published over 280 research papers and received national and international awards for his work on stillbirth and placental dysfunction, and for improving care. He led the recent Stillbirth Priority Setting Partnership and was one of the team for the 2016 Lancet Ending Preventable Stillbirth Series. He is a past chair of the International Stillbirth Alliance. Dr Heazell is the national lead for Rainbow Clinic, a specialist clinical service for parents in pregnancy after loss. He passionately believes that a better understanding of placental disease will improve outcomes for mothers and babies.
Emily Price
Ms Price is Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Birth Day, Inc., the nonprofit organization that created Count the Kicks. She oversees the national expansion of CTK, which educates and empowers expectant parents to track their babies’ movements in the third trimester of pregnancy. Accomplishments include: Count the Kicks research published in BJOG in 2023; featured on Good Morning America, ProPublica, Sunday Night Football on NBC, The Washington Post, USA Today, Inside Edition, and dozens more media outlets; the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) named Count the Kicks a Best Practice in 2021; primary stakeholder organization of the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act which was signed into law in July 2024; expansion of Count the Kicks into 31 states with additional states launching in 2025.
Bob Silver
Robert M. Silver, MD is Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Utah Health and a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He joined the University of Utah Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division after completing his fellowship there in 1994. He is serving as the Chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and as Co-Director of Labor and Delivery at the UUHSC. Dr. Silver’s clinical and research interests include recurrent pregnancy loss and stillbirth, cesarean delivery, placenta accreta, vaginal birth after cesarean delivery, immunologic diseases in pregnancy, and medical disorders in pregnancy.
Adrienne Gordon
Prof Gordon is a Senior Staff Specialist Neonatologist in the RPA Centre for Newborn Care, Clinical Professor at the University of Sydney and Chief Investigator of the Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth. She is President-Elect of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand, Co-Chair of the IMPACT Network (Improving Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes – Action through Clinical Trials) and a Board Member of the International Stillbirth Alliance. She has strong links with national parent-led organisations and is Deputy Chair of the National RedNose scientific advisory group. Dr Gordon is a key member of the Safer Baby Bundle initiative and leads the MRFF-funded PreBabe Trial which aims to improve pregnancy and newborn outcomes for women with overweight or obesity. She founded the award-winning Sydney local health district iSAIL (integrated support after infant loss) service.
