We are delighted to confirm that the winner of the GDST Alumna of the Year Award 2011 is Dr Louise Day (Notting Hill and Ealing), for her work improving the lives of mothers and babies in rural Bangladesh.
Louise accepted her award at the GDST Annual Reception, at the King’s Fund on June 8th, and will be donating the £500 award to the LAMB project, the charity she works for in Bangladesh. Our congratulations go to Louise for this much deserved award, her work in Bangladesh is outstanding and humbling.
We would also like to congratulate the other nominees who were put forward for the award, all of whom have achieved great things, often in challenging fields. In particular, congratulations go to the five shortlisted nominees:
Jenny Beavan (Putney), Sam Davies (Portsmouth), Sheila Kanani (Wimbledon), Amy Rees (Howell’s), Polly Tandy (Brighton and Hove)
Thanks to everyone who took part and helped make this first year such an exciting competition, and a great success.
About Dr Louise Day
Louise is an extraordinary doctor who has dedicated her life to improving services for mothers and babies in Bangladesh. After a year as Senior Consultant in Mother and Child Health at the hospital at Khulna, she joined the team of mainly Bangladeshi doctors at the very rural Lamb Hospital in Dinajpur in 2004, and has worked there since.
Louise has immersed herself in the language and culture, working as Clinical Lead for Paediatrics and Consultant Obstetrician and becoming a recognised expert. In this capacity she has saved the lives of countless mothers and babies, often performing up to ten caesarean sections in a single night, acting as her own anaesthetist, to save women in labour who have travelled for many days in to reach help.
Throughout her time, Louise has learned to deal with all manner of unexpected emergencies and has revolutionised neonatal care for babies at Lamb, including developing a simple structured neonatal clinical record sheet , the results of which were presented at the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London in 2009. She has worked tirelessly to improve the skills of local doctors, midwives and traditional birth support and has shared with other developing countries, her expertise in building rural health services.
