November 2025
What is your current role?
I am the infectious diseases screening midwife at St Thomas' Hospital. I work in the specialist HIV team to provide antenatal care for pregnant women and birthing people with HIV. Towards the end of their pregnancies, I make sure specialised birth plans are in place to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to baby.
I also provide care for pregnant women and birthing people with hepatitis B and syphilis. I invite them to my clinic in the first and third trimesters so we can talk about how we will look after them.
Tell us about a typical day
Every week I run midwifery antenatal clinics where I see women and birthing people with HIV and hepatitis B for routine appointments and make sure any extra support they need is in place. When I am not in clinic, I review results from the infectious diseases in pregnancy screening programme to make sure all positive and indeterminate results are actioned as quickly as possible. I also see pregnant women and birthing people in my clinic for additional testing and counselling as required.
It is important as an NHS trust to make sure we are implementing the infectious diseases screening effectively. Every day I collect data, which is reported regularly so that we can identify any areas for improvement in care.
What's the best thing about your job?
I love being able to get to know the small number of women and birthing people who I care for throughout their pregnancies. Spending time with families and understanding their individual needs means I can provide tailored support. I am also very privileged to work within a specialist HIV team who have so much knowledge and teach me new things every day.
Why is it important to raise awareness of HIV in pregnancy?
It's important to highlight the real experiences of people living with HIV and dispel the stigmas around the virus. Every year, 600 to 800 pregnancies are reported in people with HIV in the UK. Effective treatment and support reduces the transmission rate of HIV to babies in pregnancy and birth to less than 1%. Medical advances means people with HIV can live long and healthy lives and we hope to end new cases by 2030.
Thank you to the children and young people who have so brilliantly illustrated our blog pages.