Dr Margreet Barnardt

Topic: Sensitive Midwifery: Reflections to Inspire Future Generations of Midwives

A passionate advocate for a better birthing culture, Dr Margreet Barnardt-Wibbelink’s career began in the Netherlands, where she gained experience in a strong midwifery-led model of care. After relocating to South Africa, she became acutely aware of the local dynamics and challenges, which led her to establish the Healthy Mom and Baby Clinic in 2009. This non-profit organisation provides professional, private care to vulnerable and underprivileged women. At the same time, she also worked as an independent midwife in her own private practice.

Margreet holds a Bachelor’s degree in Midwifery from Belgium’s Artevelde Hogeschool, and she continued her education at Nelson Mandela University (NMU). There, she earned her BCur Honours (Advanced Midwifery & Neonatal Nursing Science 2012), a Master’s (2014), and a PhD (2019) with a focus on scaling up clinical midwifery practices in South Africa. She maintains a professional association with NMU.

Following an extensive mentoring period, Margreet was chosen as the successor to the founder of the Sister Lilian Centre and became the General Manager of the Sister Lilian Centre and Sensitive Midwifery in 2019. This position allows her to champion the midwifery profession on a national and international scale and advocate for all pregnant women, babies, and families. She also founded the Sensitive Midwifery Online Academy to actively support and mentor midwives in their development.

Jason Stewart

Topic: Supporting Women through Smarter Microbial Care

Jason Stewart is the owner and driving force behind Probitec Health, a company dedicated to developing high-quality, clinically effective probiotic solutions designed to support gut and overall wellness. Based in Cape Town, Jason combines entrepreneurial leadership with a deep interest in human microbiome science, working to translate complex research into practical health products and education for clinicians and consumers alike. 

His passion for gut health was sparked by a personal health scare that highlighted the crucial role the digestive system plays in immunity, mood and long-term wellbeing. Since then, Jason has focused on championing evidence-based approaches to probiotics and microbiome support, striving to improve how probiotic efficacy is understood and applied in real-world health outcomes. 

Under his leadership, Probitec has introduced advanced probiotic technologies that aim to overcome traditional formulation challenges—optimising strain delivery and survivability to the lower digestive tract. 

Jason continues to advocate for science-forward, patient-centred gut health strategies in the wellness industry.

Prof. Sue Fawcus

Topic: New Approaches to Predicting and Diagnosing Pre-eclampsia

Sue Fawcus is a Senior Research Scholar and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Cape Town. She retired after 25 years as Head of Obstetric Services at Mowbray Maternity Hospital, where her main goals were quality improvement of public sector maternity care and the promotion of respectful care.

She is a longtime advocate for Respectful Maternity care and is a member of the SA Obstetric Justice Coalition. She is a member of the National Committee for Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths, with the responsibility of analysing all deaths due to Obstetric Haemorrhage, and deaths related to Caesarean Section in South Africa, as well as co-editor of the Saving Mothers reports. Recently, she was one of the Principal Investigators in South Africa for the multi-country E Motive PPH trial, which introduced a new approach for early detection and first response management for PPH. She has also done research and an audit on the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on maternal and reproductive health.

Currently, she is a co-investigator for the PEARLS cohort study and trial on pre-eclampsia, which is evaluating different tools for predicting which women are at risk for pre-eclampsia and the appropriate dose of low-dose aspirin to prescribe to prevent it.

Dr Belete Woldu

Topic: Collaborative Working Between Midwives and an Obstetrician in the Cape Town Private Sector

Dr Belete Woldu is a specialist Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with over 25 years of clinical experience across Ethiopia, Swaziland, and South Africa. He currently practises at Mediclinic Constantiaberg in Cape Town.

He obtained his Doctor of Medicine degree from Addis Ababa University and completed his specialist training through the Western Cape Department of Health. He was awarded his Fellowship of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of South Africa (FCOG SA) through the University of Cape Town and the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa in 2012.

Dr Woldu is a certified ESMOE Master Trainer and Breech Delivery Facilitator through Breech Without Borders. He is passionate about respectful, evidence-based maternity care that prioritises women’s autonomy, dignity, and positive childbirth experiences.

In his spare time, he enjoys watching soccer, is an avid supporter of Arsenal F.C., keeps up with local and global current affairs, and enjoys spending time with his family.

Susan Lees

Topic: Breech Training: Why it Matters

Susan Lees completed her midwifery training in 1980 and began her career in the labour ward of a busy academic hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. During this time, Vaginal Breech Birth (VBB) remained an accepted option for carefully selected women, and Susan gained valuable early exposure to breech birth management within a high-volume maternity setting.

In 1994, she transitioned into private practice, where she dedicated her work to supporting low-risk women choosing home birth care. Following the publication of the Term Breech Trial in 2000, fear surrounding Vaginal Breech Birth increased significantly among both healthcare providers and mothers, resulting in fewer opportunities for women to access skilled breech birth support.

With the growth of an active home birth support network in Cape Town in 2021, led by like-minded mothers and midwives, the conversation around informed choice and Vaginal Breech Birth regained momentum. In 2022, Susan became involved with the international organisation Breech Without Borders (BWB), whose mission is to re-establish VBB as a safe and acceptable option when attended by a skilled provider.

In May 2023, Susan participated in a series of hands-on Breech Without Borders workshops held across South Africa and facilitated by BWB founder Dr Rixa Freeze. Following additional advanced training in France, Susan was accredited in June 2025 as an official Breech Without Borders trainer, further strengthening her commitment to education, advocacy, and skilled support for physiological breech birth.

Giselle Hartnick

Topic: The Impact of the Sensitive Midwifery Approach

Giselle Hartnick is a midwife with over 14 years of experience. She began working at Elsie’s River MOU, a small but busy midwife-led maternity obstetrics unit in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, in June 2010. She is deeply passionate about midwifery, women’s health, and early childhood development.

Giselle is a proud newly graduated Certified Sensitive Midwife and continues to work at Elsie’s River MOU. She is now ready to start a new chapter in her career as an independent midwife and hopes to continue supporting women with pre-, antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care and beyond.

Prof. Mariatha Yazbek

Topic: WHO Advanced Midwifery Prototype Curriculum for Africa

Mariatha Yazbek, a midwifery specialist and professor at the University of Pretoria, was invited in 2025 to write the master’s degree African WHO prototype competency-based curriculum for Advanced Midwifery. Mariatha has been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery at the University of Pretoria since 2012 and has been responsible for developing the curricula for both undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery programs. She supervises postgraduate research, moderates other national and international universities, and leads the Maternal and Child publication group. She peer reviews for multiple international and national journals, and has been published widely in journals, non-refereed magazines, and prescribed textbooks.

Mariatha founded a freestanding birthing centre in 2014, sharing her clinical skills, including managing postpartum haemorrhage and vacuum extraction, as well as POCUS ultrasound, with other midwives, which has shaped her into the academically and clinically strong midwife specialist she is today.

Prof. Erica Jones

Topic: Pregnancy Associated Acute Kidney Injury (PrAKI)

Prof. Erika Jones is a distinguished Nephrologist and Hypertension Specialist based at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town. With a career dedicated to improving cardiovascular health across Africa, she serves as a Consultant in General Medicine and the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension.

Prof. Jones holds several pivotal leadership roles, including:

• Director of the Hypertension Service: Overseeing specialised clinics for resistant hypertension, young patients, and post-pregnancy hypertension management
• Director of the Kidney and Hypertension Research Unit: Leading cutting-edge clinical and academic inquiries at UCT
• President of the Southern African Hypertension Society: Driving regional policy and awareness
• Executive Council Member (ISH): Serving as the Lead for the International Society of Hypertension Academy

With over 50 published papers, Prof. Jones is a leading voice in the genetic risk factors of hypertension. Her PhD research focused on sodium channel variants and their response to targeted blockades—work that fuels her strong advocacy for reduced population-wide sodium intake.

She has been a Principal Investigator for landmark clinical trials, most notably the CREOLE trial, which fundamentally shifted hypertension treatment guidelines across the African continent. She continues to contribute to global research through trials such as FIDELIO, FIGARO, and FLOW.

Prof. Jones is deeply committed to health equity. Her primary focus remains on improving blood pressure control at both the individual and population levels, with a specific emphasis on expanding access to preventative cardiovascular care in low-resource settings.