Global Obstetrics Update (GOU) 2026
Description
The curtain is rising on GOU 2026... make sure you're in the room where it happens! Tickets are selling fast!
This year we return to the Park Hyatt Melbourne from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 November, with a program brimming with fresh topics rarely covered at GOU. Our 2026 theme is “GOU goes to Broadway”, and we think the line-up truly dazzles. We hope you can join us 🎭
GOU has a different vibe to most meetings: light-hearted, never stuffy, with outrageously good food - plus a carefully curated selection of practice-changing, cutting-edge talks from international legends of obstetrics.
Don’t miss out on GOU 2026. Visit our website (and see below) for all the details you need - including the full program, brilliant speakers and venue information.
View the full program and all conference details (including venue accommodation link) at:
https://mercyperinatal.com/event/gou2026
Here are some program highlights so far (with more to be announced soon!):
22-23 Weeks as the New Threshold for Viability
Caesar Scar Niche
Special Session on Cerebral Palsy
A Focus on Birth
Delayed pushing
Cephalo-caudal stretching
Avoid the endometrium to reduce accreta risk - is the evidence for all these things strong?
Vaginal/rectus sheath haematomas, Ogilvy’s, episiotomy wound breakdowns, and other complications
Should we be precisely timing steroids?
The Legend of Cholestasis is coming… to tell us about Cholestasis! (hear from Prof Catherine Williamson, UK about this!)
Anxiety and Depression in Pregnancy
Caring for Pregnant Women with Obesity
Preconception Care
Making Sense of the Investigations we offer after Fetal Loss
Timing of Birth for Fetal Growth Restriction, and Results from Truffle 2 trial (Prof Christoph Lees, UK)
Journal Club on the Run: The Hottest Papers from 2026
Lineup
Prof Catherine Williamson
Imperial College London, UK Catherine Williamson, MD, FRCP, FMedSci, is Professor of Women’s Health at Imperial College London. In her clinical practice, she manages women with medical disorders in pregnancy. Her research focuses on the endocrine signals that influence alterations in bile acid, lipid, and glucose homeostasis in normal and pathological pregnancies. She studies the maternal and fetal aetiology, outcomes, and management of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus, and severe hyperemesis gravidarum. Her cholestasis work has resulted in the implementation of genetic screening for biliary transporter mutations by the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, and she is now evaluating the impact of identified mutations on maternal future health. Her team also established the threshold concentrations of serum bile acids that are associated with an increased risk of spontaneous preterm birth and stillbirth; work that is now cited in many international guidelines. She is leading clinical trials to evaluate bile acid therapies for gestational cholestasis and diabetes. She is Director of the Tommy’s National Centre for Preterm Birth Research, a collaboration between Imperial College, University College, King’s College, Queen Mary University London, and Leeds University that includes the UK Preterm Birth Network, enabling involvement of collaborators throughout the UK. As Centre Director, she coordinates a research portfolio that aims to understand the aetiology of preterm birth, develop research-informed interventions, and provide improved support for women affected by preterm birth. Important national collaborations include leading two pregnancy studies for the NIHR BioResource Rare Disease collaboration, leading the Women’s Health Diverse data collaboration between Genomics England and Tommy’s and being a member of the Obstetric Working Group for the RECOVERY trial during the COVID pandemic. Professor Williamson’s contribution to research has been recognized by the award of Fellowship to the Academy of Medical Sciences and a NIHR Senior Investigator Award. She contributes to the formation of national and international guidelines; current examples include the NICE Primary Hyperparathyroidism and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Clinical Practice Guideline on Liver Disease in Pregnancy. She was an assessor of maternal deaths in the UK for >10 years and co-authored four CEMD / MBBRACE maternal mortality reports.
Prof Cathy Cluver
Stellenbosch University, South Africa Professor Cathy Cluver is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine subspecialist and clinician researcher. She founded and continues to lead the Preeclampsia Research Unit at Stellenbosch University (www.preeclampsiaresearch.org). The Preeclampsia Research Unit is a multidisciplinary multinational research collaboration focussing on understanding and treating preeclampsia. Cathy obtained her MMed in 2011 cum laude and was awarded both the Daubenton Medal for outstanding results in the Fellowship examination of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the medal for the Best Postgraduate Student for a Structures Masters Qualification at Stellenbosch University. In 2013 she undertook a Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship at Mercy Hospital for Women, in Melbourne Australia. She then completed her subspecialist training in South Africa in 2016. After completing her PhD in 2019, she was appointed as an associate professor. In 2023 she was appointed as a full professor at Stellenbosch University. She is the youngest appointed professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Prof Christoph Lees
Imperial College London, UK Professor Christoph Lees qualified from Guy's Hospital, London in 1990 obtaining subspecialty accreditation in fetal-maternal medicine under Prof Kypros Nicolaides at the Harris Birthright Centre for Fetal Medicine, King's College Hospital, London. He was research fellow and lecturer for Prof Stuart Campbell at King's College and St George's Hospitals. In 2001 he established the fetal medicine unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge and moved to Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital as head of fetal medicine in 2013. He was made visiting professor at KU Leuven, Belgium, in 2010. Christoph is an international authority on fetal assessment and in particular the use of Doppler ultrasound to assess the health of the baby. He leads research in this area, scanning in labour, and non-invasive fetal surgery. The latter work led to a £2.2 million grant from the Medical Research Council for first in human studies of high-intensity focused ultrasound in 2017. His collaborations include as chief investigator for the TRUFFLE Study 2002 and as co-founder of the International Working Group of Maternal Haemodynamics.
Dr Andrea Edlow
Harvard Medical School, USA Andrea Edlow is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. She received her B.A. in History from Yale College, a Master’s of Science in Economic and Social History from Oxford University, and her MD from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital combined program, and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship at Tufts Medical Center/Tufts University School of Medicine, where she completed her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Diana Bianchi. While completing her career development award as part of the Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP, NICHD), Dr. Edlow returned to MGH in 2017 to start her laboratory. In addition to being a PI in the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology and working as a Maternal-Fetal Medicine physician at MGH, Dr. Edlow serves as the Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MGH. A critical part of both her clinical and scientific work is providing training and mentorship to the next generation of physicians and scientists. Dr. Edlow has mentored 20 trainees, who have gone on to productive careers in academic medicine, science, and the private sector.
Prof Margherita Turco
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Switzerland Margherita is a group leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) in Basel, Switzerland, where she uses organoid technologies to investigate human placental development.
Prof Catherine Spong
UT Southwestern Medical Centre, Texas USA Catherine Y. Spong, M.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She previously served as Vice Chair for the Department and Chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Dr. Spong specializes in prematurity, fetal complications, and improving outcomes in children. Her clinical responsibilities are in the Parkland Health and Hospital System. Among Dr. Spong's areas of expertise are maternal and child health, emphasizing prematurity, fetal complications, and improving child outcomes. One of her major research interests has been the developing fetus. She holds several patents for neuroprotective agents that help prevent fetal injury. Other research interests include improving the understanding of stillbirth, fetal surgery for myelomeningocele, zika in pregnancy, and the human placenta. During her tenure at NICHD, she launched the Human Placenta Project. She is a passionate advocate for inclusion in research for under represented groups.
Prof Nadia Badawi AM
University of Sydney Professor Badawi AM is a neonatologist and a leading authority on cerebral palsy (CP) and newborn encephalopathy. She was appointed as Australia’s first Chair of Cerebral Palsy in 2009 to lead and oversee Cerebral Palsy Alliance's ambitious research program to: - Propel cerebral palsy research onto the world stage - Develop an international network of researchers committed to the prevention and cure of cerebral palsy - Inspire researchers to join our quest - Target funds towards the most promising areas of research - Promote community education and shape public policy. Professor Badawi's research in newborn intensive care focuses on increasing survival of babies and improving their long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. She works closely with a team of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and families to improve the experience of families and babies in hospital. She is a leader in neurodevelopmental follow-up for high-risk infants, helping to implement change in developmental follow-up procedures for all children who have surgery.
Prof Kirsten Palmer
Monash University Professor Kirsten Palmer is a clinician researcher. She is a maternal fetal medicine sub-specialist and heads the Maternal Fetal Medicine unit at Monash Medical Centre, Monash Health; an incredible team of people that provide care for some of the most complex pregnancies in Victoria. She is Deputy Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Monash University where she co-leads the Pregnancy Discovery and Translational Research Collaborative, a research team focusing on reducing the impact of major pregnancy complications, such as fetal growth restriction and preeclampsia.
Dr Sarah Price
University of Melbourne Dr Sarah Price is the Director of Obstetric Medicine and an active Obstetric Medicine Physician at The Women's Hospital, Melbourne. She is a staff specialist Endocrinologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She is also an NHMRC Emerging Investigator Fellow (2022-2027) with the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne. She holds graduate diplomas in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RANZCOG) and Child Health (University of Sydney), and a graduate certificate in Obstetric Medicine (SOMANZ). She was awarded an NHMRC post-graduate scholarship and Norman Beischer Medical Research Foundation grant for her PhD studies titled 'Health consequences for mother and baby of substantial pre-conception weight loss in women with obesity', supervised by Professor Joe Proietto. Sarah is the immediate past President of the Australian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS) and has been a board member for the past 8 years. She is also an active member of the Australian Diabetes Data Network (ADDN) and the Type 1 Diabetes Alliance. Sarah combines clinical work, research and education. Her primary research interest is in metabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes and hypertension, in women before, during and after pregnancy. She is also interested in metabolic programming of the offspring. Sarah collaborates broadly and is available to supervise graduate research students.
Prof Brett Manley
Mercy Perinatal Professor Brett Manley is a consultant neonatologist specialising in perinatal clinical trials and improving respiratory outcomes for very preterm infants. He graduated from the MB BS from The University of Melbourne with Honours in 2001, and received a PhD in 2014. In 2024 he was appointed the inaugural Professor of Neonatal Medicine and Director of Neonatal Research at the Mercy Hospital for Women, and is a Professor in the Department of OGN. He is a Dame Kate Campbell Fellow at UniMelb, and his research awards include the Marles Medal for STEMM (2023). He has led and collaborated on numerous clinical trials including four published in the New England journal of Medicine. The PLUSS trial of intratracheal budesonide (JAMA 2024) that he led was the ACTA Clinical Trial of the Year 2024 and also won the ACTA Excellence in Statistics Award. Currently he co-leads the implementation of the world-first PLATIPUS adaptive platform trial to improve health outcomes for preterm infants.
A/Prof Roxanne Hastie
Mercy Perinatal A/Prof Roxanne Hastie is an NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow, a perinatal epidemiologist and laboratory-based scientist. Based at the Mercy Hospital for Women, Roxanne co-leads a growing cross disciplinary team that combines these fields to drive translational research aimed at improving the treatment and management of pregnancy complications.
A/Prof Anthea Lindquist
Mercy Perinatal Anthea Lindquist is a passionate clinician researcher, balancing roles as an obstetrician and perinatal epidemiologist. She practices clinically at the Mercy Hospital for Women, a major tertiary referral centre in Melbourne, where she heads up one of the obstetric units. Anthea completed her PhD in perinatal epidemiology at the University of Oxford UK and now also co-leads the Perinatal Epidemiology group at the University of Melbourne. In addition to supervising multiple PhD, Masters and medical students and nurturing the next generation of perinatal researchers, Anthea leads a dynamic and clinically-focused portfolio of research. Her work examines the long-term impacts for mother and baby following different exposures during pregnancy and the periconceptual period.
Prof Stephen Tong
Mercy Perinatal Professor Stephen Tong is the Co-Director of Mercy Perinatal. He is a Professor of Obstetrics at The University of Melbourne and an obstetrician at Mercy Hospital for Women. As a clinician scientist and an academic obstetrician, Stephen is keenly focused on developing diagnostics and therapeutics for major pregnancy complications. He has a profound interest in finding new treatments for preeclampsia and developing a diagnostic test for placental health.
Prof Lisa Hui
Mercy Perinatal Lisa is a maternal fetal medicine specialist with special interests in prenatal screening and diagnosis, particularly the use of cell-free nucleic acids in the diagnosis of fetal abnormalities and prediction of obstetric complications. She is Director of Genetics at the Mercy Hospital for Women, which looks after patients throughout the northeast of Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Prof Sue Walker AO
Mercy Perinatal Professor Sue Walker AO FAAHMS is the Head of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health at The University of Melbourne since 2016 and is also the Chair of the Division of Perinatal Medicine at the Mercy Hospital for Women. She was appointed to the Sheila Handbury Chair of Maternal Fetal Medicine, University of Melbourne in 2011. She is currently co-Director of Mercy Perinatal, a centre of excellence in clinical care, education and research in high-risk pregnancy. Her research interests include improved detection of fetal growth disorders, new treatments for preeclampsia, and reducing the burden of preventable stillbirth.
A/Prof Alison Fung
Mercy Perinatal Alison is the Clinical Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) at the Mercy Hospital for Women (MHW). She obtained her medical degree from Monash University in 1997, her FRANZCOG in 2007 and completed her RANZCOG subspecialty certification in Maternal Fetal Medicine in 2012. Alison holds MFM consultant positions at the Mercy Hospital for Women and as a PIPER Perinatal consultant at the Royal Children's Hospital. She has a particular interest in managing complex twin pregnancies and is a surgical member of the Victorian Fetal Therapy Service that offers advanced fetoscopic procedures. Her other interests lie in preterm birth prevention, complex fetal ultrasound procedures and in fetal neurology.
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