25/03/2025
The Green Maternity conference at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists | RCOG sends out some very important messages which harmonise with what I have been doing for many years.
Conferences like these where we can share learnings from carbon reduction programmes, highlight opportunities to reduce waste, and develop practical skills to measure the impact are essential to make sustainability a real way of working rather than a buzzword.
It’s only by working across the full breadth of the healthcare service — from procurement to patient — that we’ll stand a chance of hitting the NHS’s 2045 net zero carbon emissions.
Of course, environmental issues are not limited to sustainability, there are much wider implications for human health. Building on my broader interest in the over-lapping themes of deprivation, climate and environmental exposures, I was actively involved in the organisation of the first UK conference on the impact of air pollution on human health across the life course, Every Breath You Treat, 2022, chaired by Grace Dugdale, FRSB in conjunction with City Council’s public health team and Health England, and accredited by The College of Physicians . Delegates included clinicians and scientists from a range of disciplines to discuss the impact of pollution on the diagnosis and treatment of all health conditions including infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy and childhood - all topics I spoke about.
Environmental pollutants cause damage throughout the life course and carry through pregnancy to subsequent generations.
We cannot always choose where we live but we can control our immediate environmental exposures in many ways - for example by eating organic foods, avoiding plastic containers for foods and using skin products, shampoos and cosmetics that are free from parabens, phthalates and other well known toxins.
So far in our Leeds IVF clinic, we’ve focused on streamlining the IVF process and reducing carbon with virtual appointments where possible, and we’re always open to new ways to reduce our environmental impact.
Sustainability isn't just an environmental issue. It's a health issue. By making greener choices, we not only protect our planet, but our patients' long-term wellbeing.
