Pregnant women could be putting their babies’ lives in danger by buying or renting home equipment to monitor their heartbeats.

As part of Baby Loss Awareness Week, midwives at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital are appealing to women to steer clear of hand-held Dopplers sold by private firms to check babies’ heartbeats.

Wendy McKenzie, sister of the Antenatal Day Unit and the Antenatal Clinic at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said using a Doppler at home can stop women seeking urgent medical attention when their baby may be in distress.

She said: “Midwives and doctors have regular updates on training to listen to foetal heart rates so this is not something anyone can do.

“What you could be hearing is a maternal pulse so you could think your baby is fine when you should be contacting us. You could also be measuring a heart rate of 150 which you think is fine but is actually masking something untoward.

“You can also cause yourself unnecessary anxiety which is not good for either you or your baby.

“You are the best monitor of your own baby’s movements and if you have any concerns over reduced movements or if the movement patterns of your baby are altering, you need to contact us.”

Wendy McKenzie (front) with (left to right) Rachael Jackson, Healther Holland, Sarah Green, Louise Highes and Junior Sister Carlie Gilbert

Nine babies are stillborn every day in the UK. Only one in 10 of stillbirths are believed to be linked to a fatal congenital abnormality.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is part of the national drive to halve the number of stillbirths and deaths of babies by 2025.

Wendy McKenzie said women usually feel the “flutter” or “roll” of their baby from 18 to 20 weeks. Some can experience it earlier while others first feel movement after their 20-week scan.

Between 17 and 28 weeks of pregnancy, women should to their community midwife if they are concerned about their baby’s movement.

After 28 weeks, women can referred themselves to the hospital’s Antenatal Day Unit or be referred by their GP, community midwife or health visitor.

Wendy said: “There is no specific number of ‘normal’ movements that women should experience. “However, after 32 weeks, you will be able to work out a pattern. Babies develop their own individual pattern that women will become familiar with.

“For some women, their baby could be awake throughout the night then go quiet for periods during the day. Babies do sleep for periods of time but that is rarely longer than 90 minutes.

“Importantly, women should be aware that babies should continue to move right up until labour and birth.

“It is not true that babies move less near the end of pregnancy. If this happens, women need to contact us without delay.”

Some women ring the unit at 8.30am because they haven’t felt movement in the early hours, perhaps because their baby is asleep. They are advised to lie on their left side, eat something, have a cold drink and focus on feeling their baby move 10 or more times in the next two hours.

If they don’t, they should call the unit again.

When women come to the unit, their blood pressure and urine will be checked along with their medical history.

Midwives, trained in the use of Dopplers, will check the foetal heart rate. Some women could be sent for an ultrasound and a cardiotocograph (CTG) will be used to record the foetal heart rate for around 30 minutes.

If the tests show all is well, the woman will be given guidance on what to expect with her baby’s movement and who she should contact if she had further concerns before she leaves.

Wendy said: “Women should contact us the same day if they have concerns. Women do lead busy lives but they should never be tempted to put off contacting us immediately.

“We have staff on duty around the clock who can help you every day of the week if you have any concerns. At the end of the day, we want women to be happy and reassured throughout their pregnancies.”

The Antenatal Day Unit is open every day of the week. If you are concerned over reduced movements or an altered pattern of movements, call the unit on 382729. Calls will be diverted to Maple Ward after 8pm during the week and after 5pm at the weekend.

Around 200 students are to watch a “living autopsy” performed by one of the country’s leading pathologists to understand the perils of modern living.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is inviting students aged 14 and over to watch Dr Suzy Lishman CBE perform an autopsy on a living man.

The volunteer, dressed only in their underwear, will lie on the autopsy table covered by a sheet while Dr Lishman uses their body to illustrate what happens during an autopsy.

Chris Chase, the trust’s Pathology Training Manager, said: “It is a real honour for Hull to host such a prestigious event and underlines our national reputation for the work we do in pathology.

“We hope the living autopsy will give students an insight into the work, see how post mortems inform our understanding of disease and show how we live can dictate how we die.”

Described as the “public face of pathology” by the Health Service Journal, Dr Lishman was named one of the 50 most inspirational women in health care in 2013. She was only the second women to be elected President of the Royal College of Pathologists, holding the post from 2014 to November 2017.

She is credited with initiatives such as National Pathology Week, increasing public understanding of the crucial role performed by pathology teams in the NHS.

Dr Lishman will come to the Medical Education Centre at Hull Royal Infirmary on Wednesday, November 7, as part of this year’s National Pathology Week to perform two “living autopsies”. The first session takes place in the morning for NHS staff.

Schools including St Mary’s Academy, Newland School for Girls, Hymers and Aspire Academy, which serves vulnerable students within Hull and the East Riding, and Sixth Form Colleges Wyke and Wilberforce will be invited to send students to the afternoon session.

Although no real blood or body parts will be on display, the trust is restricting the invitation to older teenagers.

Chris Chase said: “The aim is to give them a real insight into what happens during post mortems and for that to happen, we’re saying it’s not suitable for the very squeamish.

“We hope the young people will find it a valuable learning experience both from their own perspective of understanding the need to adopt healthy lifestyles and from gaining insight into the vital role pathology plays in the treatment of disease.”

She listened to health messages, advising women to check their breasts regularly. So when Pam Turner found a pea-sized lump in her breast, she knew she had to act.

She was referred to Castle Hill Hospital for tests after going to see her GP but, within days, her life was turned upside down when she discovered she had breast cancer.

Now, four years later, Pam is supporting Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month and give hope to other women facing the same situation.

She said: “I don’t feel I can ever say it’s gone. That anxiety will always be with me.

“But, in some respects, I am really grateful to cancer because I live every single day to the full and it’s given me confidence to do things I never thought I would do.”

Pam, a high-level teaching assistant at Lockington Primary in the East Riding, discovered the lump in her breast in June 2014, waited a couple of weeks to see if it would disappear and then went to her GP.

Referred to the Breast Care Unit at Castle Hill Hospital, she underwent a biopsy and was called back into the unit to be told the lump was cancerous.

“Your mind goes blank and your world turns upside down in that split moment,” she said.

After an MRI scan, Pam was introduced to Macmillan Nurses who supported her throughout her journey.

“Everyone at the unit is just amazing,” she said. “The Macmillan Nurses are fantastic for anyone in that situation.

“You come out of the consulting room with all this information and it’s so overwhelming but with them, you have the opportunity to be taken to one side and think through your options.”

Pam underwent two lumpectomies but the surgeries revealed further tumours so she had to have a bilateral mastectomy followed by chemotherapy.

She was helped staff and counsellors at the Oncology Health Centre at the Queen’s Centre, who helped her cope with what she described as the “massive trauma” of losing both her breasts at the age of 47.

“You get your last chemotherapy and everyone says how fantastic it is and it’s over but it felt to me almost liked I had been rushed through a massive whirlwind where my life had been turned upside down.”

As well as the support of the Oncology Health Centre, Pam joined Positive Note, the choir formed by the Living With and Beyond Cancer team to support those whose lives have been touched by cancer.

She said: “The choir has been an absolute lifeline for me. I’ve met such wonderful people, people affected by cancer in different ways.

“Some people have lost relatives through cancer, some have been on a similar journey as me and some have a terminal diagnosis but we all support each other. The lift you get from singing is just amazing.”

Pam underwent reconstructive surgery in October 2015 and is still on medication to reduce the risk of cancer returning.

She said: “While I don’t feel I’ll say it’s gone, I do feel like I’m in remission. Next year, I will be having a party to mark five years.

“I just try to live to the full every day and do things I never did before.

“I’ve been hang-gliding, I’ve been on the longest zip wire in the world, I’ve been rock-climbing – none of these things I had ever imagined I would do before I had cancer.”

A bus driver has raised more than £2,000 to thank hospital physiotherapists for helping his wife recover from a massive stroke.

Dave Gray, who works for East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS), walked more than 20 miles from the firm’s Anlaby Road depot to Hornsea bus depot with his friends and workmates Graham Franklin and Andy Cope to thank staff for saving his wife Denise.

Dave and Denise Gray

The couple’s daughter Danielle said: “We just can’t thank staff enough for all they’ve done, not just for my Mum but for all of us.

“From the emergency staff to the nurses on ICU and the staff on both wards, we are in their debt. We couldn’t have asked for better support.”

Danielle found Denise, 50, unconscious in bed when she went round to their home one morning in April after her mother failed to answer the telephone.

Denise, who worked as a cook in a care home and had been at work just two days before, was rushed to Hull Royal Infirmary where emergency doctors discovered she had suffered a massive stroke. Dave, Danielle and her brother Martin were told to prepare for the worst.

Within an hour of arriving at hospital, Denise was undergoing brain surgery and then spent 10 days in Intensive Care.

She was taken to the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit on Ward 110 and then Ward 11 to continue her recovery.

Danielle said: “Right from the start, her physio Dan Pearce was amazing and we are just so grateful to him.

“He would come and find us to tell us even the smallest bit of positive news because he knew what it would mean to us. He was so understanding.”

With Dan’s support and the care of the nursing team, Denise relearned some of the skills she had lost when she had the stroke, learning how to support herself, sit up and hold things during her 15 weeks in hospital.

(left to right) Graham Franklin, Dave Gray and Andy Cope

She has now been discharged and is continuing her rehabilitation at Rossmore Nursing Home in Sunnybank, going from strength to strength.

Dave and his friends carried out the sponsored walk between the two depots to raise money for the physiotherapy team as a way of thanking them for their help. They have now returned to the stroke unit to hand over the donation.

Danielle said: “It was just something my Dad wanted to do because of all the support and help our family has received.”

A nurse specialising in the care of patients with dementia has received “fidget bears” from Hull’s knitting community.

Lead dementia nurse Kay Brighton, who works in the Department of Elderly Medicine at Hull Royal Infirmary, appealed for help to create the bears.

The bears loop over the fingers of patients affected by memory loss, confusion or delirium, meaning they are less likely to pull out intravenous lines and drips delivering essential fluids and medication.

Kay said: “People often send us twiddle muffs which are brightly coloured knitted tubes fashioned with buttons, bows and ribbons to help us calm patients who need to keep their hands busy.

“However, these ‘fidget bears’ are also a great idea because our patients can hold them in their hands and they act as a distraction and source of comfort which can prevent the accidental removal of intravenous lines.”

From left: Kay Brighton, Sarah Rippingale, Sam Geal and Dr Yoghini Nagandran

Kay and her colleagues working in the Department of Elderly Medicine handed out around 100 patterns to knitters as part of the “knit one purl one” campaign during the Health Expo in Hull, marking the 70^th anniversary of the NHS in July.

She said: “People were very kind, asking how they could help. Our knitters are always so supportive and we’re very grateful for their help.

“With the weather turning colder, people are picking up their knitting needles again so we’re starting to receive fidget bears in the post from those who took a pattern home with them.

“On behalf of our patients, we’d just like to thank everyone for all their support.”

Midwives and child care experts will stage a special event at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital on Tuesday to mark the start of Baby Loss Awareness Week.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is supporting the 60 charities raising awareness of miscarriage, stillbirth and baby loss in the UK.

Stalls will be set up next to the Orchard Café on the ground floor of the hospital to educate families on the dangers of smoking in pregnancy or around babies, safer sleeping techniques and how to monitor babies’ movement during pregnancy.

Information will also be given out on child safety such as fire safety, how to fit a car seat correctly and how to help your baby if they are choking at the event, running from 10am to 4pm.

Head of Midwifery Janet Cairns said: “We are working hard to reduce stillbirths, miscarriages and baby deaths in the UK in line with the Government ambition to halve rates by 2025 but we understand how devastating the loss of one baby is to their family.

“We want parents to have practical advice so they know how to keep their baby safe during pregnancy and after their babies are born.

“The vast majority of women have healthy pregnancies and births so no one should feel unduly alarmed. However, understanding how to keep your baby safe and taking steps to reduce risks are essential parts of the journey to parenthood.”

According to Tommy’s charity, one in four women will experience a miscarriage in their lifetime and nine babies are stillborn every day in the UK. In 2016, there were 3,430 stillbirths and 2,136 neonatal deaths.

Baby Loss Awareness Week culminates in the “Wave of Light” global event on Monday, October 15, to coincide with International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

Candles will be lit across Hull and the East Riding at 7pm and will burn for one hour in homes, groups and communal spaces to remember all the babies who have died.

People can take part in the virtual Wave of Light by posting a photo of their lit candle on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using #WaveOfLight at 7pm.

More women with breast cancer are surviving without the need for major surgery compared to 30 years ago, a consultant oncologist has revealed.

Breast cancer specialist Dr Sunil Upadhyay, who works at the Queen’s Centre in Cottingham, said medical advances used by the team mean the majority of women no longer require mastectomies.

Instead, most women from Hull, East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire undergo lumpectomies to remove the tumour or therapies such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy without having their breasts removed.

The team, based at Castle Hill Hospital, are also able to harvest eggs and save ovaries to protect younger women’s chances of motherhood. They can also use special “cold caps” to try to prevent a woman losing her hair during chemotherapy.

At the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr Upadhyay sent out a positive message to women diagnosed with the condition.

“I’m not just saying we’ve got better at treating breast cancer – we’ve got miles better,” he said.

“Since the 1990s, survival rates, not just for five or 10 years but the ‘cured for good’ rate, have been going up and up and up.

“Not only are more women surviving, we’re also providing people with better support before, during and after treatment.”

The Queen’s Centre, regarded as a UK centre of excellence in oncology care, sees around 600 women with breast cancer each year.

Dr Upadhyay is part a multi-disciplinary team of consultants, breast surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, breast care nurses and support staff who meet every week to discuss the best course of treatment for each patient.

With vast experience after more than 27 years at the trust, Dr Upadhyay said more women are coming forward than ever before thanks to the national breast cancer screening programme. Campaigns such as encouraging women to check their own breasts regularly have also seen earlier diagnosis, allowing more women to survive.

“The treatment has become better with the number of mastectomies going down significantly,” Dr Upadhyay said. “Local excision of the tumour (lumpectomy) is now much more common.

“Even when women present with large tumours, we’ve become very good at shrinking them with chemotherapy or hormone therapy so patients don’t need mastectomies.”

For the small number of women who still need a mastectomy, the team ensures she has reconstructive surgery while still on the operating theatre to minimise psychological trauma.

Dr Upadhyay said: “We can now offer immediate breast reconstruction with the help of our plastic surgeons so when the women wake up, they have a reconstructed breast already.

“That is definitely a good thing for the patients and their nearest and dearest but it’s also a good thing for other women with breast cancer to know.”

The team can also access latest drugs now available to NHS patients for tailor-made treatment plans.

Dr Upadhyay said: “Over the last 10 years, six or seven new drugs have become available to NHS patients allowing us to personalise treatment in a way that wasn’t possible before.

“One person might get Treatment A while the other gets Treatment B because we know every woman is different with different types of cancers.

“These drugs mean we can offer the treatment that is going to work best for them. Not only does this produce the best outcome, it also means fewer unnecessary side-effects.”

He said new methods of radiotherapy like the Deep Inspirational Breath-Hold (DIBH) technique and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) limit damage to other organs and bones and reduce scarring to breast tissue.

“The outcomes are brilliant and the side effects are minimal compared to what we used to see 30 years ago,” he said. “And the best thing is all of these techniques we are able to offer patients right here at Castle Hill.”

As well as better treatment, the emotional and psychological needs of patients and families are also looked after by the team at the Oncology Health Centre.

Dr Upadhyay said: “We not only aim to give people the best treatment, we want to make sure they are supported too.

“While no one wants to hear they have breast cancer. But what we can say now is that things have really improved.”

A choir helping people whose lives have been touched by cancer is looking for a new leader.

Positive Note was set up by the Living With and Beyond Cancer team at Castle Hill Hospital to help survivors, people currently undergoing treatment, those with terminal diagnoses and relatives.

Now, the choir, which meets every week, is looking for someone with musical ability to direct their singers.

Specialist oncology nurse Sarah Guest, who leads the Living With and Beyond Cancer team, said: “The choir is a fantastic way for people to make new friends with people who understand what they are going through and share experiences.

“We’re looking for someone who can give us great musical direction and mirror the energy and enthusiasm of our members.”

Between 20 to 30 singers meet every Tuesday night during term-time between 6.30pm and 8.30pm. They have already performed at charity events and been asked to sing at weddings for people undergoing treatment at the Queen’s Centre.

Anyone interested in the position of choir leader or who would like to join the choir should contact Sarah on 01482 461091.

Hundreds of patients awaiting the removal of cataracts are set to benefit after Hull partnered with US eye health giant Bausch and Lomb to trial new laser technology.

Hull Eye Hospital has just taken delivery of the Victus 3^rd Generation Femtosecond Laser Platform

Surgeons at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will use the technology to operate on patients undergoing cataract removal surgery for the next month.

The laser emits pulses lasting one quadrillionth of a second, allowing incisions to be made with increased precision. The ultra-short pulses also assist the surgeon by breaking down the cataract into small pieces before the procedure to remove it begins.

Ophthalmic surgeon Colin Vize, Medical Director of the Family and Women’s Health Group, said: “We see around 5,000 patients every year for the removal of cataracts and they already benefit from a great service where we correct any problems with their vision at the same time.

“This trial means our patients can now benefit further because our team can use the latest technology during surgery.

“It’s great news for Hull and further underlines our reputation in delivering great care to our patients.”

A mum has praised Hull’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit after her son was born with a rare condition affecting just one in 5,000 babies.

Harry Smith was born with Hirschsprung’s disease, a rare and life-threatening disorder of the bowel.

He was rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital and underwent three biopsies, a barium x-ray and a colostomy by the time he was six weeks old.

Now seven months old, Harry is recovering after undergoing “pull-through” surgery to re-section his bowel.

Mum Vicki, 30, said:  “My view is he had this, he had to get it fixed or he would die. And that’s why he’s here, rolling around on the carpet.

“Babies born with Hirschsprung’s disease have a low chance of survival without intervention so, for me, it had to be done.”

Hirschsprung’s disease is a congenital disorder where nerve cells do not develop through the full length of the bowel. Babies with the condition are unable to push faeces through the bowel in the usual way.

The disease can cause severe constipation or enterocolitis, a serious bowel infection, if it is not identified and treated early enough.

Vicki and husband Mike, who live in Selby and have a three year-old daughter Lily, were overjoyed when Harry was born at York Hospital weighing 8lb 2oz in February.

Only able to manage small feeds, Harry was vomiting them back up again and was taken to the Special Care Baby Unit with a distended stomach.

Symptoms of Hirschsprung’s disease in a newborn include the failure to pass meconium, a swollen stomach and vomiting green fluid known as bile.

As Harry had passed a small amount of meconium, the disorder was initially discounted.  An x-ray showed free air in his bowel so he was transferred to Hull’s NICU when he was three days old.

Vicki said: “I was able to stay with Harry while he was in NICU and they were really good.

“It was difficult, living 40 miles away and having a three year-old at home, but I was able to stay with Harry and get home when I could.”

Consultant Paediatric Surgeon Sanja Besarovic, known to families as Miss B, suspected Harry had Hirschsprung’s disease despite him passing meconium.

“Miss B is definitely the person you want to look after your child when they are sick,” said Vicki.

Harry was allowed home after nine days after he managed to pass faeces and started tolerating feeds but his parents had to rush him back to NICU three days later when his bowel became blocked again.

Vicki and Mike travelled back and forward to Hull for weeks so Harry could be given enemas to clear his bowel.

None of the biopsies or the barium x-ray provided conclusive confirmation of the condition and, when he was six weeks old, Harry underwent a colostomy to create a temporary opening in his stomach to collect faeces.

It was only then, when cell samples were taken from his bowel during surgery, that a diagnosis of Hirschsprung’s disease could be confirmed.

Following the colostomy, Harry started to thrive.

When he was five months old, the affected part of the bowel was removed and the healthy section was connected directly to the anus to allow faeces to be passed, reversing the colostomy.

Harry spent two days in the paediatric high dependency unit at Hull Royal Infirmary before he was transferred to Acorn children’s ward for seven days.

Vicki said: “He’s doing really well now and we continue to receive support from Miss B when needed. I would just like to raise awareness of this condition through education and give a big thanks to Miss B and her team.”