Why is Antenatal Screening important for parents-to-be? A moment with Lisa Bullows, our Lead Screening Midwife
Lisa Bullows, our Antenatal Screening Lead from our Women’s Hospital will have been with us for 20 years this September, starting her BWC career as a band 5 midwife in our core Delivery Suite. Working there for 11 years within intrapartum care, she began to support women with high-risk pregnancies working across our High Dependency Unit, Triage and Abby Suite with our Bereavement team. 
There are multiple diseases and conditions our Trust screens for at the beginning of pregnancy. We test for infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Syphilis so that we can treat our women and birthing people, to keep them healthy and ultimately protect their unborn babies from contracting those diseases.
Following the birth of her second daughter, Lisa had secured her role in Fetal Medicine, to begin with – supporting women before pregnancy and during their antenatal period. Later, she went on to apply for the role of our Antenatal Screening Lead, improving the care pathways and lending insight through her extensive experience with BWC.
Lisa said: “I applied for the job and soon realised it was something I loved and thrived on the continuity of seeing the women and their families through their often difficult pregnancies. My predecessor then had a secondment opportunity, so I stepped into her shoes as the lead for antenatal screening.
“I was excited to advance to a leadership level because I appreciated the autonomy it would give me as a midwife and ways in which I could change and improve care for our women and their families.”
Our hospital also screens for Downs, Edwards and Patau’s Syndromes during antenatal screening. This is optional and women who decline screening are fully supported in that decision. Women who choose to have screening are provided with guidance through their journeys, to make important decisions about further testing and their ongoing care.
Lisa added: “I am the link midwife for women and families who are expecting a baby with Down Syndrome. I love that I can coordinate an individualised plan of care for these families ensuring they have the right investigations at the appropriate times. I work with the ‘Positive About Down Syndrome Organisation’ and refer women to them for ongoing support; with their lived experiences they can provide a different aspect of support that these women may need.
“I am also the named midwife for women who are living with HIV. It is important for these women to have a named person to assist with connecting their maternity and HIV care.”
When speaking with Lisa about how her role makes her feel, she said: “I feel very empowered and in turn empower women to make the best choice for them as individuals with regards to their screening pathway and ongoing pregnancy. My leaders have faith in me to deliver on my service and support me with any changes I propose.
“I find this job completely rewarding. Mainly for the continuity it brings and for watching pregnancies develop and women flourish on their journeys into motherhood. Observing women become so empowered in their care is wonderful. If you’re interested in becoming an antenatal midwife, you definitely need a passion for change and innovation, a lot of networking And a good work ethic.”