Elke Vine

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Midwifery, PGC Advanced Midwifery

Specialisms

Hospital midwife, Birth Choices Clinic, High risk pregnancy.

Introduction

I qualified as a midwife in 2003. Since then I have had many roles and responsibilities including rotational midwife, community midwife, antenatal clinic co-ordinator, labour ward co-ordinator, supervisor of midwives, better births lead midwife and professional midwifery advocate. I have also undertaken almost a year’s secondment as a consultant midwife. I am currently employed as the intrapartum matron for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. I am responsible for the safe and efficient running of the labour ward, obstetric theatres and the high dependency/recovery area. I have overall responsibility for my core team and am involved in ensuring they are performing well in their roles and are practising safely and within guidance. I work once a week in a clinical capacity as the maternity bleep holder and occasionally as either a labour ward co-ordinator or as a lead triage midwife. I also ensure I do an occasional shift giving one to one care to a woman in labour.

From April 2023 until July 2024, I held the post as labour ward manager. My years of experience in the intrapartum area allowed me to excel at this role and pave the way for my recent appointment. During this time, I was able to maintain my clinical credibility by ensuring I regularly undertook shifts as a co-ordinator or as a triage midwife. From 2007 until April 2023 I held the post of labour ward co-ordinator. During this time I also had various other leadership roles but always maintained my clinical practise and expertise by working in my clinical co-ordinator role at least once a week. This has allowed me to maintain my clinical credibility. I would consider myself to be an expert practitioner and am confident in both complicated and physiological birth. In my role as a supervisor of midwives and professional midwifery advocate, I have a strong portfolio of experience of NMC hearings, practice related investigations, report writing, feeding back to staff and supporting staff through serious incidents. I also have experience of reviewing services in other local hospitals. 

I have had many years of experience of counselling women who choose to birth outside of guidance. I ran a specialist clinic for this service from 2007 until 2024. This service is for women who choose to use the birth centre or home for labour when they are considered high risk or have complexities that would need to be managed in a labour ward setting or with doctor led care. This has given me a wealth of experience and knowledge of discussing risk in childbirth. In addition, this service has given me the ability to discuss plans of care in depth with the rest of the multidisciplinary team and to be able to have difficult conversations with doctors, midwives and managers of the service. 

l can offer particular expertise in intrapartum cases; labour ward, birth centre or homebirth care; obstetric emergencies; triage or day assessment care; interpreting foetal heart rates, either auscultated or with continuous cardiotocograph.

I accept instructions from both claimant and defendant solicitors and insurers. I have undergone formal training in the medico-legal process and am fully aware of my responsibilities under Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) pertaining to expert witnesses.