A SENIOR doctor is using the expertise she gained during a two-year professional sabbatical overseas to help women giving birth at Hampshire Hospitals-run facilities.

Avideah Nejad, a senior foetal maternal medicine consultant, recently returned to the trust after spending two years studying in the USA and helping to open a new hospital in Qatar.

During her time away, Miss Nejad was involved in the set-up, management and opening of Sidra Medicine, a new hospital in Qatar that specialises in foetal maternal medicine and paediatrics.

She also successfully campaigned for Qatar to become the first state in the Gulf to introduce a policy against female genital mutilation.

She said: “I’m pleased and excited to be back and looking forward to bringing all of the experience and skills I have learned into the way we care for women at Hampshire Hospitals.

“I worked with some world leaders in the field and acquired a whole range of new skills and knowledge.”

Miss Nejad also studied at Harvard, completing an executive leadership and management diploma, as well as an MBA in health management, before going on to achieve a higher academic rank in clinical obstetrics and gynaecology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

Miss Nejad added: “Foetal maternal medicine is my passion and I really enjoy delivering safe, high-quality care to high-risk mothers at what can be a difficult time. I have a big emotional bond with all of my amazing colleagues at Hampshire Hospitals, so it’s great to be back.”