A midwifery lecturer who will graduate with a PhD from the University of Dundee next week has given birth to three babies of her own whilst studying for her doctorate. She studied pelvic floor exercises and incontinence during and after pregnancy.
Heather Whitford (41) started her PhD in 1997 when she was expecting her first child. She gave birth to her second in September 2000 and was expecting her third child when she sat an important oral exam to secure her PhD in autumn 2002.
Heather asked women if they did pelvic floor exercises while they were pregnant and examined their motivation for doing the exercises. She explained: "Most women don't believe that incontinence will be a problem after the birth of their baby but a third of the women I interviewed experienced some incontinence after delivery. Doing pelvic exercises during pregnancy may help to prevent incontinence, but women find it hard to remember to do the exercises."
Heather, having looked at the evidence, decided to practise the exercises herself during her three pregnancies. She said: "Trying to balance studying for a PhD while having three babies was a challenge but made easier by my very supportive husband and a lot of organisation. My advice to anyone juggling many children and a demanding job is to always plan a day ahead."
Heather will graduate with her PhD on Thursday 10 July at 2.15pm in the Caird Hall, Dundee.
By Jenny Marra, Head of Press 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk