Our Experts

Nurse, trained health visitor and midwife. Sleep expert and sleep education consultant to the NHS. Director of Millpond Sleep Clinic.

is associated with the University College London Hospital, and is currently seconded to Whittington Hospital as Director of Midwifery Services. Yana is a highly motivated and compassionate registered midwife and nurse, with a wide range of experience in clinical, research and management roles at a national and international level, with NHSE/NHSI, University College London Hospitals Foundation Trust, Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Nurses, Nursing and Midwifery Council, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and World Health Organization.

Chandrima is Clinical Director at The Whittington Hospital in London and obstetric lead for the North Central London Maternity Network.

She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and a for President of the Maternity and Newborn Forum of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Chandrima specialises in maternal obesity in obstetrics and high-risk obstetric care.

Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and lead obstetrician in maternal medicine at The Whittington Hospital in London.

Amma’s special clinical interests are the management of pregnancies complicated by maternal medical disorder and pre-pregnancy counselling. She is a fully trained physician and also deals with medical disorders affecting gynaecology including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and reproductive medicine, and is experienced in transvaginal pelvic ultrasound for gynaecology patients.

She is a member of the NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Advisory Group and the NHS Haemoglobinopathy Advisory Group. She recently led the development of the new Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists national guidelines on the management of thalassaemia in pregnancy.

Lead researcher in Statistics and Child Health National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford. She works on the Perinatal Mental Health Indicators for England project. The project was commissioned by the Department of Health for inclusion in the NHS Outcomes Framework and Public Health Outcomes Framework from 2016.

Emily is a lead researcher in Statistics and Child Health National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford. She works on the Perinatal Mental Health Indicators for England project. The project was commissioned by the Department of Health for inclusion in the NHS Outcomes Framework and Public Health Outcomes Framework from 2016.

Trainer and trained paramedic, St John Ambulance

Specialist Registrar and Fellow in Obstetric Anaesthesia at The Whittington Health ICO NHS Trust.

Trainee representative for The Central London School of Anaesthesia.

Lena Engel is a freelance early years specialist with a long career in teaching in schools and in further education, writing policy documents at the Department for Education and managing early years services in local authorities in London.

A freelance early years specialist with a long career in teaching in schools and in further education, writing policy documents at the Department for Education and managing early years services in local authorities in London.

Lena currently delivers parenting advice and training and worked in the past as a part-time Ofsted early years inspector. Lena has the counselling skills and expertise to help parents enjoy their parenting experience, and empowers them to solve the tricky problems that sometimes come from being a parent and coping with their children’s early years and their transition to school.
If you would like to contact Lena for one-on-one advice for children aged 0 – 19 years, please email her on [email protected].

Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in London and author of “You’ve Got It In You: a positive guide to breastfeeding.”

Head of Specialist Education and Wellbeing for Cavendish Education
Education Consultant for The Child and Adolescent Development Centre.

Jessica is a Level 7 Specialist Teacher and Assessor with a specialism in Dyslexia and in depth experience of supporting children with Autistic Spectrum conditions and/or social communication difficulties.
After completing her training as an International Montessori teacher, Jessica taught in primary education before training in cognitive assessment for Dyslexia and Specialist Literacy Teaching. She then worked as a one to one literacy specialist then as Special Educational Needs Coordinator at an independent day school in London. In 2014, Jessica co founded a secondary school for children with additional needs where she took on the role of Vice Principal and Head of SEND.
In 2018, together with Adele Monsef, Julia Avnon and Rosa Matthews, Jessica co founded The Child and Adolescent Development Centre, a multidisciplinary assessment centre designed to support children and families at every stage of their educational journey.
Along with work in schools, Jessica works in collaboration with law firms offering expert testimony in tribunals to support families in securing Education Health and Care Plans. Jessica is currently training as a child, adolescent and family psychotherapist at The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and offers therapeutic support to primary school children as a volunteer counsellor.

Jessica continues to work as a Dyslexia Assessor for children and adults, and as a freelance writer looking at issues in education.

Senior Research Associate at UCL Institute of Education. Working in partnership with Save the Children.

Mark is the co-founder and Headteacher at HackLab. He is an experienced school teacher who was recognised by Ofsted as an ‘Outstanding’ classroom teacher in 2014 and is a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator. He has been interviewed about coding on the BBC and the Naked Scientists show and recently presented a TEDx talk at Kings College London in the autumn of 2016.

Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry and President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD).

Engagement and involvement of young people. Quality of care and patient experience. Dental Commissioning at Greater Manchester and National level. Use of media for Dental Education and Public Health Promotion.

Sally Tedstone is our supportive breastfeeding expert with a wealth of practical experience helping mums learn to breastfeed, as well as a strong understanding of how breastfeeding works. Sally’s background is midwifery, and she was a practising midwife for over 20 years. She’s been an infant-feeding specialist since the late 1990s. Her interest in breastfeeding grew after the birth of her first daughter when she understood at last how much feeding matters as a mother.

Sally has had various roles within the NHS supporting breastfeeding: as a midwife; as an infant feeding co-ordinator, which involves training and support for staff so that support for breastfeeding within services improves – and providing specialist help; and as a regional manager within the Department of Health supporting and training infant feeding coordinators and commissioners of services to improve standards across the South West of England.

Sally has worked for UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative for many years. She delivers breastfeeding training to NHS staff and supporting services all over the UK through the Baby Friendly Initiative assessment process, to improve standards of care for mothers and babies.

Sally currently works with UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative supporting the senior team with a number of projects.

Dr Amy Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at Swansea University where she leads the MSc in Child Public Health.

Avni is an osteopath with MSc Paediatric Osteopathy and Bachelor’s degree in osteopathy (a BSc Hons, BOst Recognised) and teaches as a pregnancy and childbirth lecturer at British School of Osteopathy on their MOst degree course.

She also works as a doula (with Doula UK) for mums and babies. As a doula, she has a special interest in antenatal osteopathy and supporting gentle births and also works at the Active Birth Centre in London.

Osteopath with MSc Paediatric Osteopathy and Bachelor’s degree in osteopathy (a BSc Hons, BOst Recognised). Doula with Doula UK. Special interest in antenatal osteopathy and supporting gentle births.

Avni runs Avni Touch for safe and effective treatment for women throughout pregnancy and postnatally, as well as from birth and beyond.

Her specialities include osteopathic and integrated care for pregnancy, postnatal, babies and children.
Wellbeing in the workplace (including for pregnant women). Cranial osteopathy, Zero balancing, Medical Acupuncture and experienced in yoga for pregnancy (Birthlight method).

Lecturer of Mental Health at King’s College, London, and Independent Nurse Consultant

Sarah is a Senior Lecturer at ARU and a course leader for our MSc Clinical Child Psychology. She lectures on topics from typical early cognitive and social development as well as developmental psychopathologies.
Sarah is a chartered developmental psychologist specialising in early child development and language and literacy development and disability. She also uses the developmental trajectories technique to investigate outcomes in children with reading disabilities.

Paroo qualified as a dentist from Bristol University in 2002. Following this, she carried out a three-year full-time postgraduate training in orthodontics to become a specialist orthodontist. She then worked at The Royal London and Great Ormond Street Hospitals where she gained further experience and qualifications to become a consultant orthodontist.

Paroo’s research interest is the thumb sucking habit and its effect on the teeth. She has presented her work nationally and internationally, and recently wrote the British Orthodontic Society patient information leaflet on thumb sucking and dummy sucking habits which is now distributed nationally.

Co Founder of The Child and Adolescent Development Centre
Non Executive Director of Cavendish Education.

I have worked in the field of Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) assessment since 1990. Having completed my degree in Child Development I began working under Dr Andrew Hicks at Centre Academy. I have worked as a consulting psychologist at Dyslexia Action and Dyslexia Teaching Centre in Kensington.
I went on to complete my MSc Counselling Psychology at City University in 2007. I have set up a number of child and adolescent counselling services at independent schools in London and have been the School Counsellor at a West London independent school for 14 years.
I co-founded The Independent School which opened its doors to children between 11 – 16 in September 2014. I am a Non-Executive Director of Cavendish Education.
I have written articles for the Dyslexia Review and School House Magazine.
Registered with the Health Care and Professional Council (HCPC) and a Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society.
In 2018, together with Jessica Narowlansky, Julia Avnon and Rosa Matthews, I co founded The Child and Adolescent Development Centre, a multidisciplinary assessment centre designed to support children and families at every stage of their educational journey.

Dr Anna Maw is a paediatric consultant at Cambridge University NHS Trust. She specialises in brain development and neurology.

A mother of three children, Dr Maw has empathy with new parents and the concerns and worries that they often have about their baby’s health.

In the Care and Development videos Anna explains and illustrates the common ailments and medical emergencies that can occur in the first year, as well as how to treat and prevent a range of medical problems in babies.

Questions that Anna helps to answer:

What is a non blanching rash?
Why is my baby crying in an unusual way?
What is causing my baby’s nappy rash?
How can I sooth a cough?
Is my baby’s cord OK?
How do I get rid of my baby’s eczema?
How can I prevent my baby from SIDS?

Chief Executive of the Child Accident Prevention Trust

I have worked in the field of Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) assessment since 1990. Having completed my degree in Child Development I began working under Dr Andrew Hicks at Centre Academy. I have worked as a consulting psychologist at Dyslexia Action and Dyslexia Teaching Centre in Kensington.
I went on to complete my MSc Counselling Psychology at City University in 2007. I have set up a number of child and adolescent counselling services at independent schools in London and have been the School Counsellor at a West London independent school for 14 years.
I co-founded The Independent School which opened its doors to children between 11 – 16 in September 2014. I am a Non-Executive Director of Cavendish Education.
I have written articles for the Dyslexia Review and School House Magazine.
Registered with the Health Care and Professional Council (HCPC) and a Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society.
In 2018, together with Jessica Narowlansky, Julia Avnon and Rosa Matthews, I co founded The Child and Adolescent Development Centre, a multidisciplinary assessment centre designed to support children and families at every stage of their educational journey.

Registered Nutritionist (Association for Nutrition)MSc(merit). Nutritional Medicine from University of Surrey. Registered Health Visitor with a PGDip as a specialist practitioner in Public Health, & Registered Nurse.

Engagement and involvement of young people. Quality of care and patient experience. Dental Commissioning at Greater Manchester and National level. Use of media for Dental Education and Public Health Promotion.

Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. ‘Labour Ward Lead’ at Whittington Health. Miss Wilson is passionately interested in women’s experience and safety through all stages of pregnancy. She also holds the position of Royal College Workplace Behaviour Champion.

Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant based in the northwest of England, working within the NHS in research, training and project management, in private practice assisting mothers and babies with feeding issues, and the tertiary sector with various national organisations.

Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. ‘Labour Ward Lead’ at Whittington Health. Miss Wilson is passionately interested in women’s experience and safety through all stages of pregnancy. She also holds the position of Royal College Workplace Behaviour Champion.

Community Midwife Team Leader at Whittington Hospital, London

I am doctor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, I started working as a doctor in London and then moved to Manchester more recently to complete my specialty training. I have an interest in finding innovative ways to improve the care of women both during the antenatal period but also during childbirth. Working within this field is an incredible privilege and I find it very rewarding.

Family doctor and General Practitioner with a specialism in mental health and children. Doctor Sarah Temple has extensive experience both within NHS General Practice and Children’s Mental Health Services (CAMHS). She takes a special interest in working with parents and carers (including parent carers) who are themselves experiencing life events such as bereavement, divorce, separation or ill health. She has extensive experience in maternal well-being and infant attachment.

Rebecca is one of the founders of The Essential Parent Company. She has a doctorate in child development and parenting from Cambridge University and is a member of the Association of Infant Mental Health.

Rebecca worked for many years at BBC Television in London making science documentaries for BBC1. She loved communicating groundbreaking science and medicine to BBC1 audiences of over 7 million people.

She was part of the team that made Professor Robert Winston’s landmark series “Human Instinct ” which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2002.

Child Development experiments that she developed in her scientific research were also reproduced and filmed on the ground breaking series “Child Of Our Time. ”

“Child of Our Time ” was also presented by Professor Robert Winston and follows 25 babies born in the UK at the Millennium and then followed them each year as they grew and developed.

She is passionate about giving new mums and dads the confidence to be relaxed and happy parents and to enjoy the wonderful first few years with their baby.

Questions that Rebecca helps to answer:

How do I bond with my baby?
What is kangaroo care?
How can I make feeding my baby a time to bond?
How can I help my baby to understand the physical world?

Registered Midwife. Midwife at Kingston Hospital and specialist midwife in Perinatal Mental Health Midwife.
Alison Ross is a specialist Midwife for Mental Health at Kingston Hospital. She loves babies and in our guide, shows how to hold a baby, bathe a baby, change a nappy and safely lay them down feet to foot in a moses basket.

As well as all the practical skills of looking after a new baby, she’s specially trained in supporting new mums who are feeling overwhelmed, sad and depressed.

Postnatal depression is a common illness after having a baby and Alison has a section that discusses feelings of depression and what new mums can do if they feel overwhelmed and disconnected from their new baby.

First aid trainer. St John Ambulance.

Melissa Little Bsc., Msc., RD Melissa is a Registered Dietitian specialising in Paediatric and Maternal nutrition with a focus on infants and under-fives. Having received a Bsc. Honours Degree in Dietetics from the University of Alberta, Canada, in 2006, she has been working in children’s nutrition, both clinical and community settings, for the last 10 years. In 2015 she completed a MSc. (Distinction) Degree in Advanced Dietetics specialising in Paediatrics and Public health from the University of Nottingham.

In 2013 Melissa founded a community interest company called Foodtalk with three of her peers. Working with schools, children’s centres and local authorities, Foodtalk provides nutrition interventions and training for frontline staff on various topics such as infant feeding, childhood weight management and vitamin D. Their work has received various awards including the British Nutrition Foundation’s prestigious Drummond award for its work on Vitamin D in under 5s and a national award for “Paediatric Nutrition Team of the Year” in 2015.

Melissa has spoken at various conferences on the topic of childhood and antenatal nutrition and regularly guest lectures at the University College London on community nutrition interventions.

Melissa acts as a media spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association and has done numerous interviews across various media outlets including newspapers, magazines and live radio and television interviews. She is currently a member of the parliamentary group for a Fit and Healthy Childhood lobbying government for changes in childhood nutrition legislation. Melissa sits on the committee for the Public Health Nutrition Network and the Royal College of Public Health Nutrition Advisory Board and is fully registered with the Health Professionals Council and the British Dietetic Association.

Melissa sits on the committee for the Public Health Nutrition Network and the Royal College of Public Health Nutrition Advisory Board and is fully registered with the Health Professionals Council and the British Dietetic Association.

Mr Rehan Salim, Consultant Gynaecologist and Expert in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery. He is Medical Director for the new state of the art Lister Fertility Clinic at The Portland Hospital. He is highly experienced in all aspects of general gynaecology and has a keen interest in IVF. He works closely with patients to achieve high pregnancy rates and works with those who have had previous failures in fertility treatment. He is highly competent in performing a wide range of gynaecological procedures using minimally invasive techniques.

Early Years teacher, specialist in Montissori

Director of Bereavement Care Services – Cumbria and Lancashire