Susan Bewley

Susan Jane Bewley (born July 1958) is a British obstetrician, and emeritus Professor of Obstetric and Women's Health at King's College London.

Born in Ireland and qualified from London, she specialised in complicated births and severe maternal morbidity. Her main research areas have been on severe maternal diseases and violence in pregnancy, with other work in fertility and intrapartum guidance with the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). In addition, she has been involved with several charities.

Early life and education Bewley was born in 1958 in Dublin, Ireland. Her father Thomas Bewley, was a psychiatrist. Her mother, Beulah Bewley, daughter of banker John Knox and the affluent heiress Ina Charles, became a dame for her work on women in medicine. Bewley is the eldest and only doctor of five siblings, having three sisters and one brother. Bewley shocked her mother when she came out to her and moved in with her girlfriend. She self financed a master's degree in medical law and ethics, where she also became interested in domestic violence.

Medical career Inspired by her parents and the late obstetrician and gynaecologist Professor Geoffrey Chamberlain, Bewley specialised in complicated births and severe maternal morbidity. She has criticized homeopathy and highlighted distortions in previous breast cancer screening leaflets.

In addition, Bewley works and volunteers for various charities including HealthWatch (for treatments that work), Sophia Forum (the UK branch of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS), and Maternity Action (which works to end inequality and promote the health and wellbeing of pregnant women).

In 2005, Bewley and fertility expert Melanie Davies published "Which Career First? The most secure age for childbearing remains 20-35" in the British Medical Journal. Debating the reasons for having children at an older age, in what way this worsens outcomes and how assisted conception has contributed, it triggered a discussion on childbearing in older women.

Other activities It was at the request of her ill mother, Dame Beulah Bewley, that Bewley helped her complete and edit My Life As A Woman and Doctor, memoirs of Beulah Bewley.

Selected works

Bewley, Susan, and Jan Welch. ABC of Domestic and Sexual Violence. Wiley; 2014. . Subotsky, F., Bewley, S., & Crowe, M. (Eds.). (2010). Abuse of the Doctor-Patient Relationship. Cambridge: Royal College of Psychiatrists. (ebook).