Alexandra
"I cannot recommend Lawrence highly enough. He has delivered both our sons and taken care of me though two pretty tricky pregnancies. In Lawrence's own words, when he reflected on my first pregnancy I "had the complications of five women" but his exemplary attention to detail and level of care meant that I was always in very safe hands. Between appointments he was at the end of a phone throughout and responded to every call or text immediately which was extremely reassuring.
Lawrence came highly recommended to me by the Fetal Medicine Centre, Harley Street, when I was diagnosed by them with a very short cervical length (due to two cone biopsies a few years earlier) at 15 weeks into my first pregnancy. This was a very worrying discovery for my husband and I as we had waited 5 years for a baby and didn't want anything to jeopardise my pregnancy. Lawrence was very reassuring, outlined the risks and options, and recommended a cervical stitch which he performed a couple of days later.
At around 27 weeks my hands and feet started to itch very badly. Lawrence sent me for blood tests which confirmed obstetric cholestasis - a horrid condition which makes the mothers skin itch intolerably but also in severe cases (which mine was) puts the baby at risk of stillbirth in the latter stages of pregnancy. Lawrence put me on medication to reduce the symptoms and monitored me very closely for the remainder of my pregnancy - I had a foetal trace every other day and weekly scans to make sure the baby was thriving. At 35 weeks my blood pressure suddenly shot up - I had now developed pre-eclampsia. A few days later my platelets dropped and at 35.3 weeks Lawrence decided to deliver the baby as there were too many risks to juggle. I had a platelet transfusion and our son, James, was born by C-section. James' delivery was an amazing experience - pretty medical in the end due to all my complications but very personal nonetheless. At Lawrence's suggestion we took our iPod and camera into theatre and as soon as James was born he was given to me for skin to skin. My recovery from the operation was remarkably quick and pain free and my scar is very neat.
My second pregnancy was thankfully much less eventful. I had another cervical stitch and developed OC again but only very mildly and much later on than the first time. However Lawrence was equally attentive and reassuring. He was always at the end of a phone and it says a lot about him that both our boys were born during his annual leave, something I only discovered afterwards.
Not only is Lawrence an extremely experienced and talented obstetrician he is also a very amiable man with a lovely, jovial nature which always put us both at ease. We will be forever grateful to him for delivering our two healthy boys."
Lawrence Mascarenhas : Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist