Dr Roshni Patel
Roshni Patel is an accredited specialist in high risk maternal and fetal medicine. She has extensive experience of normal and high risk pregnancy and is a recognised expert at pre-pregnancy counselling & managing medical problems in pregnancy.
She exclusively consults and delivers at the Kensington Wing (Private Maternity Unit) of the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. Roshni is not only a very experienced obstetrician but has been sought out by her clients for her warm and accommodating nature. Her patients often travel from far to be under her care and her testimonials are a true reflection of her both as a caring individual and attentive doctor.
Roshni lives close to the hospital and is therefore readily available at any time of the day or night. She is married to another doctor and is a mother of three children.
Pregnancy and Labour philosophy
Roshni provides evidenced based information to assist women in making their own choices. She recognises that each pregnancy and labour is unique and supports women to have the best and safest birth experience possible.
Training and Qualifications
Roshni studied medicine at the University of Bristol and qualified in 1995. Her early training was in the South West of England and Oxford regions. She then arranged to gain more extensive experience working in Cape Town and Eastern Cape, South Africa and with VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) in Asia. She passed her highest professional exams in 2000, achieving the very highest marks and coming amongst the top 5 out of 1000 candidates. This lead to her admission as a Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG), her professional association in England
Roshni then went on and gained a highly competitive Clinical Academic Training Fellowship in 2001. As part of this fellowship she completed an MSc in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine, for which she was awarded a distinction. She then went on to complete a PhD at the University of Bristol.
In addition to this and to her general training common to all UK obstetricians, Roshni undertook further specialisation in high risk maternal and fetal medicine. This has enabled her to look after complex maternal health problems in pregnancy and lead to her becoming the clinical lead for both the maternity cardiac and mental health service at the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust.
Education & Research
Throughout her career, Roshni has had a long-standing interest in medical education and participates in teaching undergraduate and postgraduates; most recently, she completed a certificate in medical education. Roshni has been instrumental in setting up a course for obstetricians in training towards their professional association exams (FRCOG) and is an author for a teaching guide.
Since the earliest stages of her career, Roshni has been interested in research and views it as a way of improving clinical practice and ensuring women get the best, most appropriate care possible.
Roshni has done extensive research comparing vaginal delivery with caesarean section and evaluating the merits of each. She gained a PhD in this field and has published widely on this topic in international journals. She examined the factors leading to different modes of delivery in 14000 women, for example, emergency caesarean section or instrumental delivery. She also analysed the longer term outcomes following different types of delivery. Her studies included the effects of mode of delivery on postnatal depression, back pain and breastfeeding. This information has guided her clinical practice and enables her to provide good quality information to her patients.
Other research compared gestational length in different ethnic groups and published the differences between white European, South Asian and Black African women. Roshni is now part of a group comparing gestational length in other ethnic groups.
Much of Roshni’s research has been focusing on choices around delivery and their long term impacts. This included a large randomised trial that aimed to help women understand the risks and benefits of different modes of delivery and with their decision making following a previous caesarean section. Roshni has also participated closely in a study of approximately 400 women who had complex deliveries once they were fully dilated in labour and followed both the women and their children for the next five years. On-going work she is currently undertaking examines the effects of depression and anxiety on birthweight and gestational length.
