Caroline is a PhD student at the INFANT Centre. Caroline completed her BSc Midwifery in the UCC in 2010. After graduating she travelled to Essex in the UK where she worked as a Band 6 Midwife in one of the largest and busiest maternity units in the country. She returned home at the end of 2011 and began working as an agency midwife in various maternity hospitals around Ireland.

Caroline went on to work as a research associate with a medical diagnostics company in conjunction with University College Cork involved in the development of a blood test which can predict the risk that a woman will develop preeclampsia later in their pregnancy.

Caroline has completed a postgraduate diploma with UCC in Preparation for Birth and Parenthood and enjoys providing antenatal classes in her spare time.

Caroline is now pursuing a PhD with INFANT and NPEC in the area of Multiple pregnancy: An investigation of the risk factors and outcomes in the ROI (The MILESTONE study).  Her research is funded by the Irish Research Council.

The objective of the study are:

  1. Examine the current maternity care provided for the antenatal management of dichorionic diamniotic (DCDA) twin pregnancies, through the identification, appraisal and review of national and international clinical practice guidelines.
  2. Identify the maternal and care-related risk factors associated with perinatal mortality and explore perinatal mortality within the twin population in the ROI.
  3. Identify neonatal outcomes of very low birth weight twin pregnancies in the ROI.
  4. Identify the specific service needs of women/couples, to inform future developments and help improve the quality of care within the maternity services.
  5. National service evaluation within the ROI on the provision of antenatal care to DCDA twin pregnancies and establish if the care provided is in line with national and international recommendations.
  6. Contribute to the development of a DCDA twin pregnancy clinical practice guideline.

Caroline’s supervisors are Prof. Keelin O’Donoghue (INFANT) and Dr. Sara Leitao (NPEC)

Caroline aims to contribute to improving and standardising the care of twin pregnancies and especially improving the experience of the parents using the services.