What is the aim of the conference?
Our aim is that this conference will be both useful and enjoyable for obstetricians, gynaecologists, midwives, neonatologists, neonatal nurses, scientists and patient advocates who work in the field of preterm birth prediction, prevention and optimisation.
Our stimulating programme provides updates on cutting edge research from our range of expert speakers, provides a platform for delegates to share their research, audit and qualify improvement projects, and looks to the future of how our community is to lessen the burden of preterm birth for women and their families.
Delegates will have the opportunity to experience proper scouse hospitality at our evening event on Thursday 18th January. This is an opportunity to form links with like-minded people working in the field, which we hope will stimulate collaborations and produce friendships.
What is the history of this conference?
The UK Preterm Birth Network conference started in 2015, in Liverpool, to bring together clinicians and scientists working in preterm birth prediction and prevention. It was primarily attended by academic obstetricians and scientists working in the preterm birth field, and there was a focus on providing a platform for oral presentation to early career researchers. The conference was held annually in person across the UK in 2016-2019, and virtually 2020-21 . The conference was not held in 2022/3 due to uncertainties with the pandemic.
The 2024 conference aims to re-connect clinicians, scientists, and importantly patient advocates in the post-pandemic era to share new research, form new collaborations and improve preterm birth care.
In 2019 preterm birth prevention was added to the Saving Babies’ Lives care bundle and now every UK hospital providing maternity care is expected to provide preterm birth prevention care. With this there has been a move to provide preterm birth prediction and prevention care by obstetricians and midwives working for the NHS. Alongside this the role of the perinatal team to optimise the preterm infant has been emphasised, and obstetricians, neonatologists, midwives and neonatal nurses are working more closely together than we have done before. The conference has evolved since the inaugural event in 2015, and we aim to have a programme, and venue, suitable for maternity and neonatal clinicians working in the NHS, alongside clinical academics and scientists. By bringing together the best clinicians, scientists, and patient advocates in our field to share best practice, evidence and look to the future we hope this conference will continue to be a valuable resource for many more years to come.
The UK preterm birth network conference has traditionally been a low cost conference, in fact the first conference was free, and we are very grateful to all the previous conference organisers who have worked hard to keep costs down. The low ticket price has improved accessibility of the conference to early career researchers and clinicians, midwives and neonatal nurses, and we hope built the conference into the fabulous event that it is today.
The organisers initially explored holding the conference in Liverpool Women’s Hospital, the hosts of our inaugural event, which would have reduced costs. However, the venue is now really too small to host the wider range of delegates who now provide preterm birth care, alongside patient advocates. The RCP Spaces at the Spine venue is a fabulous venue, with lovely food, and we hope this will promote delegate interaction. There is even an impressive internal biophilic sky garden with high oxygen producing plants, which reconnects people with nature and they claim it is that is proven to help productivity. This venue does come with a higher price tag, and as such the conference fee is now £100 for the two day event if booked before 31st October 2023, and £120 if booked after this date. We hope this is still low cost compared to similar events.
The cost has been kept as low as possible by the fabulous support of our invited speakers who are paying for their own attendance, travel and accommodation. This is unusual for a large conference, but testament to the value that these international experts place in the value of the UK preterm birth network conference. In turn the conference organisers are doing as much in-house as possible to keep costs low.
We are extremely grateful to our hosts, the Harris Centre at University of Liverpool, alongside our industry sponsors and showcase clinical trials for providing financial support to the conference which is helping to keep our ticket price as low as possible.
Will there be prizes?
The submitted oral and poster presentations will be judged by our team and small prizes awarded to the best oral and poster presentations in the categories of:
What type of abstracts can be submitted?
We welcome abstracts related to research, audit, innovations and improvement projects in the field of preterm birth.
When can be submitted?
Abstract submissions are open 4th September-31st October 2023.
How will the poster presentations be organised?
We hope to support as many participants as possible to showcase their work. Accepted abstracts will be allocated to either oral, poster pitch or formal poster presentations.
All poster pitch presentations and formal poster presentations will be available on the website, therefore we will require presenters to provide the posters to the organisers by 11th January 2024.
Poster pitch presenters will be asked to present their work to the conference in a 3 minute slot with a single slide. We hope that presenters and delegates can then take the opportunity to further discuss their work during the breaks, lunch and social events, with the posters available online.
Posters will be viewable digitally at the event and we are working hard to ensure they will not require printing
Why is the conference not in hybrid format?
The conference will be recorded and it is possible to purchase access to the recordings that will be available after the event.
As the first in-person conference since the COVID-19 pandemic the organising committee wanted to strengthen the UK Preterm Birth network by promoting face to face attendance. Live access to the conference including virtual participation would have added considerable cost to the conference for all delegates, and we made the decision to focus on keeping costs down for in-person delegates.
Why can I only buy a ticket for two days? (I only want to attend one day)
In order to keep costs down and simplify the booking process only tickets for both days (18/19th January 2024) are available for purchase. If you can only attend on a single day it is possible to ‘gift’ your other day to another delegate. To do this please email ptbconference2024@gmail.com with the name/affiliation and job role of yourself and the delegate that you are gifting the attendance to, before 18th December 2024. It is only possible to gift whole days.
Will I receive a certificate of attendance?
All delegates will be asked to complete an anonymous feedback survey, and after this receive access to a certificate of attendance. Oral and poster presentation winners will also receive certificates (and small prizes).
