Maternity
Saint Mary's Hospital
Maternity at Saint Mary's Hospital
Saint Mary’s Hospital Maternity services provide full maternity care across pre-conception counselling, antenatal care, birth and postnatal care. The service is delivered as a managed clinical service across Saint Mary’s Oxford Road Campus, Saint Mary’s at Wythenshawe Hospital and Saint Mary’s at North Manchester General Hospital, with community antenatal and postnatal services across Manchester.
Observers and fellows can gain insight into a large, multi-site NHS maternity service that combines midwifery-led care, obstetric-led care for complex pregnancies and specialist multidisciplinary pathways. The service supports approximately 17,000 women and families each year and includes access to specialist antenatal clinics, maternity triage, fetal medicine, maternal medicine and research-active maternity pathways.
The programme is designed to support observers and fellows understand how UK maternity care is organised around safety, individualised care, multidisciplinary decision-making and evidence-based practice. Exposure may include antenatal and postnatal care pathways, birth environment and escalation processes, specialist clinics, fetal surveillance, governance meetings, teaching and research activity.
Fellowships and observerships at Manchester Specialist Health Academy provide international clinicians with structured opportunities to experience high quality healthcare training within a leading NHS environment. Both pathways offer consultant oversight, a clear induction, and access to modern clinical settings that support a strong understanding of advanced patient care. Participants are welcomed into a professional community that encourages learning, collaboration, and engagement with the culture of Manchester.
While fellows take part in more in depth clinical development, gaining exposure to subspecialties, procedures and research, observers focus on shadowing and understanding multidisciplinary practice within NHS services. Both groups benefit from involvement in clinics, team discussions, and wider learning activities such as simulation sessions, CPD opportunities, and quality improvement insight.
Academic contributions and awards
Saint Mary’s hosts a leading maternal and fetal health research programme in partnership with The University of Manchester. Research focuses on areas including pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction, diabetes, lupus, pre-term labour, stillbirth prevention and pregnancy outcomes.
The Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre delivers local, national and international studies through specialist clinics, including Lupus in Pregnancy, Placenta, Rainbow and Pre-term Labour. As one of five UK centres funded by Tommy’s, the service has contributed to advances in stillbirth prevention, placental research and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
Rare and complex cases
- High-risk antenatal care involving maternal medical conditions and fetal concerns.
- Fetal Medicine Unit pathways for fetal anomaly assessment, prenatal diagnosis, fetal growth restriction, complex multiple pregnancy and specialist counselling.
- Specialist fetal medicine clinics including complex multiple pregnancy, fetal neurology, fetal cardiology and fetal, neonatal and surgical pathways.
- Procedural pathways such as amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling and intrauterine transfusion.
- Maternal Medicine Service clinics .
- Manchester Antenatal Vascular Service pathways for hypertension and pre-eclampsia, including referrals for severe early-onset pre-eclampsia from across the North West.
- Rainbow Clinic and perinatal mortality.
Why Manchester?
Manchester is a city of innovation and progress, renowned as the world’s first industrial city and still leading in science, healthcare, and technology. With excellent transport links and a vibrant, multicultural atmosphere, it offers an inclusive environment for learning and professional growth.
Beyond your placement, Manchester offers something for everyone - from watching the iconic Manchester derby to exploring world-class museums and galleries. With vibrant music, sport, and culture, the city truly has it all. Combining heritage and modernity, it creates a unique setting for personal enrichment and memorable experiences whilst you develop professionally.
Meet our expert supervisors
Our team consists of highly qualified and motivated professionals, who are all experts in their field. With many years of experience in the industry, they have the expertise to provide comprehensive, first-rate services to our clients.
Ghosh Montilla
Dr Montila Ghosh is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Saint Mary’s Hospital with specialist interests in maternal medicine and high-risk pregnancy care. She is experienced in managing complex medical disorders in pregnancy and is actively involved in education, research and the delivery of specialist multidisciplinary maternity services.
Chibuike Iruloh
Dr Chibuike Iruloh is a Consultant Obstetrician and Subspecialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at Saint Mary’s Hospital. He qualified from the University of Nigeria in 1998, completed specialist training in Manchester and Sheffield, and obtained a PhD in fetal growth restriction research. His interests include fetal medicine, prenatal diagnosis, high-risk pregnancy care and obstetric triage.
Our signature programmes
Observership
Maternity
Objectives
By the end of the placement, the visiting professional should be able to:
- Describe the structure of a multi-site NHS maternity service and how antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care pathways connect across hospital and community settings.
- Explain how maternity teams use multidisciplinary working to support women and families with routine and complex pregnancies.
- Recognise core approaches to high-risk pregnancy assessment, fetal surveillance, escalation and safety-focused decision-making.
- Identify the contribution of specialist maternity clinics, including fetal medicine, maternal medicine, pre-eclampsia, diabetes and other complex antenatal pathways.
- Discuss how research, audit, governance and quality improvement contribute to maternity service development and patient safety.
- Reflect on transferable learning relevant to maternity care, communication, professional practice and service improvement in the observer’s home setting.
Eligibility
- The visiting professional must have sufficient English language skills to engage meaningfully in the observership.
Fellowship
Maternity
Objectives
By the end of the placement, the visiting professional should be able to:
- Develop deeper understanding of consultant-led and multidisciplinary management of complex maternity presentations within a tertiary NHS environment.
- Apply evidence-based principles to supervised discussion of high-risk antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care pathways.
- Gain structured exposure to specialist areas such as fetal medicine, maternal medicine, fetal growth restriction, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, perinatal mortality pathways and complex multidisciplinary clinics.
- Contribute to supervised learning activity, audit, quality improvement, case-based discussion or research.
- Strengthen understanding of NHS clinical governance, documentation, escalation, patient safety culture and multidisciplinary communication.
- Build professional insight to support future senior clinical, academic, educational or leadership roles in maternity care.
Eligibility
- Postgraduate Qualification: Applicants must hold an overseas-recognised postgraduate medical qualification (MD, MS, Masters) in ophthalmology or a relevant specialty.
- Experience: Minimum of 3 years’ recent experience in ophthalmology or a related specialty within the last 5 years, including at least 12 months of continuous practice before applying.
- Training Level: Equivalent to ST5 or above, or post-CCT clinicians seeking subspecialty exposure.
- Language Proficiency: IELTS Academic with 7.0 in each band and overall 7.5, or OET Medicine with Grade B in all domains, with certificate validity within 24 months.
- Registration: GMC registration is required for fellowship activity. Sponsorship support may be available through approved routes where appropriate.
- Applicants must not have failed PLAB exams previously.
- Visa sponsorship is only available through approved routes; self-funded visas outside agreed schemes are excluded.