PROFESSOR MARK UMSTAD AM
Mark is a highly experienced Obstetrician who provides professional, compassionate and considered care to women and their families through pregnancy, labour, delivery and the postpartum period. He has provided care for normal pregnancies through to extremely high-risk pregnancies for more than 25 years, and will continue to do so for many more years.
He has a strong interest in high-risk obstetrics, particularly multiple pregnancies, pregnancy loss, premature delivery and recurrent miscarriage but also thoroughly enjoys the management of completely normal pregnancies.
His research Doctorate of Medicine thesis was in the area of fetal monitoring in labour. He has been involved in the Fetal Surveillance Education Program, the national program to educate obstetricians and midwives in this area, since 2001.
He has personally delivered more than 10,000 babies including many sets of twins, triplets and quadruplets. Including his public hospital contributions, he has been involved in the supervision of more than 2000 twin pregnancies, more than 60 triplet pregnancies and four quadruplet pregnancies. His passion for the best possible care for women with a multiple pregnancy led him to establish Australia’s first multiple pregnancy clinic in 1997 and subsequently, in 2010, be appointed as the National Patron of the Australian Multiple Birth Association.
Mark has extensive experience with the prevention of premature births having placed over 400 Shirodkar and McDonald cervical sutures. He introduced transabdominal cervical sutures to Melbourne and performed 30 procedures before collaborating with Associate Professor Alex Ades to transition from an open to a laparoscopic approach.
Mark has a strong commitment to improve the outcomes, and reduce the risks, to pregnant women and their babies. He has a range of senior appointments to enable him to achieve this aim. He was the Director of Maternity Services at the Royal Women’s Hospital from 2012 to 2022. He is currently the Chair of the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity for the Department of Health in Victoria. The Council review every serious adverse pregnancy outcome in Victoria and develop recommendations to avoid future problems. This allows Mark to be aware of all of these issues, and develop processes, both in private and public, to make pregnancy and childbirth in Victoria as safe as possible.
He has a strong research and teaching profile, believing these two aspects ensure he remains at the leading edge of obstetric practice. He has more than 60 scientific publications including several chapters in textbooks, has written four fetal monitoring manuals, and developed several guidelines for multiple pregnancy management. These academic achievements have resulted in his appointment as a Clinical Professor in the University of Melbourne.
He is actively involved in the teaching, training and mentoring of the next generation of obstetricians and gynaecologists, a privilege he has enjoyed for more than 30 years.
Mark believes a combination of private and public obstetric practice ensures that his knowledge and practices are as woman-focussed, safe, evidence-based and as contemporary as possible.
Mark was honoured to receive an Order of Australia (AM) in 2018 for significant service to medicine in the field of obstetrics, particularly complex pregnancies, as a clinician, consultant and academic.
When he isn't working, Mark enjoys spending time with his three adult children and five beautiful young grandchildren.
