February 2018

Newsletter
Newsletter Editor Dr Heather Rowe
Logo based on painting by Omar Biscotti

President’s Message
We are pleased to bring
ISPOG members a newyear 2018 edition of theNewsletter. It contains
latest news about our next
ISPOG congress in 2019, acall for contributions to oureducation platform, theannouncement of thelatest book publication, anauspicious award inJapan, an update on congress activities in 2018
and again a call for information from ourmember societies.
The ISPOG 2019 congress:
Due to recent political developments andsecurity concerns on the Korean Peninsula, theBoard and some ISPOG members expressed
reservations about holding the 2019 congress inSeoul as planned. It would indeed be unfortunate
to have reduced numbers of delegates because
people were deterred from visiting Seoul under
the circumstances. The Board contacted all
country representatives last Autumn to seek theiropinions about this. The majority of respondents
to the survey expressed the view that we shouldseek an alternative venue. The Board expressed
these concerns and the opinions of members ofISPOG to our Korean colleagues. They consideredand discussed them in their national society andeventually decided to withdraw their offer to holdthe ISPOG congress 2019 in Seoul. This was adifficult decision for everyone, which we regret
very much but, under the circumstances, wethink it is the right one.
We very much appreciate the work that ourKorean colleagues had already done inpreparation for the congress and thank them fortheir continuing support. We hope that thecongress can be held in Seoul in future.
With very best wishes for 2018 and in the hope tomeet you soon in Budapest
Sibil Tschudin

ISPOG 2019 in the Netherlands
The Dutch working party on Psychosomatics inObstetrics and Gynaecology is pleased to be ofhelp to ISPOG in organizing the 19th ISPOG
Congress in the Netherlands in 2019. As soon as
possible, the date and venue for ISPOG 2019 will
be announced.

Biopsychosocial Factors in Obstetrics
and Gynaecology
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication date: August 2017
Online ISBN: 9781316341261
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316341261
Edited by Leroy Edozien and PM Shaughn O’Brien
Biopsychosocial
factors are integral to
all aspects ofhealthcare butperhaps nowheremore so than inobstetrics,
gynaecology andwomen's health. This isprobably because somuch of what occurs
in the specialty
involves dramatic, lifechanging events from pregnancy and childbirth to menopause
and malignancy. This book was planned to informclinical care and improve the psychologicalelement of women's healthcare. The content
covers a wide spectrum of care, including
chapters on all the major subspecialties. There
are 41 chapters and the authors are from the UK,
Switzerland, Canada, Australia, USA and Uruguay.
The two editors, between them, have long-termand broad experience of writing and researching
the areas covered in this text. Obstetricians,gynaecologists, midwives, psychiatrists,psychologists and those in many other areas ofhealthcare, including healthcare managers,
should read this book. It is hoped that a distillate
of its content will be incorporated in general andsubspecialty training curricula to optimise thefuture care given to patients, partners andoffspring.

Professor Fumi Horiguchi Receives
Prestigious Tamada Award in JapanThe Global Alliance for Maternal
Mental Health (GAMMH) website tobe launched in March 2018

On 29 July 2017,
Professor Fumi
Horiguchi, ouresteemedJapanesecolleague, waspresented with theTamada Award byProfessor Hideo
Honjo, President ofJSPOG. The award
is in recognition ofProfessor
Horiguchi’s wealthof experience and her guidance of JPOG and its
members since the society’s foundation. JSPOG
honours Professor Horiguchi’s significant
achievements and expresses their gratitude.
Members of ISPOG extend warm congratulations
to Professor Horiguchi on this significant honour.

GAMMH is a coalition of internationalorganisations committed to improving the mental
health and well-being of women and theirchildren around the world during pregnancy andthe first year after birth. ISPOG is a founding
member.
GAMMH’s primary aim is to raise awareness ofmental health problems to improve prevention,
early identification and treatment. The initiative
arises from the successful UK campaign
Maternal Mental Health-Everyone’s Business
GAMMH will also seek to collaborate with otherkey initiatives including the 1001 Critical Days
Initiative(UK). http://www.1001criticaldays.co.uk//

Update from Education Committee
We are continuing to collect modules for oureducation website that will help clinicians tobecome familiar with basic aspects ofcommunication and evaluation ofpsychosomatic concerns. Modules may be
instructional about a topic relevant topsychosomatics in general, or may describe acase that delves into a particular aspect ofwomen's health, such as menopause orchildbirth. Some samples of educational
modules, along with instructions for formatting,are featured on the ISPOG website.
We invite any interested members to submit
similar modules in the format described. Modules
will be evaluated by a member of the Education
Editorial Board with expertise in the topic.
Anyone interested in submitting a module forpeer review and publication on thewebsite should send an email
to Jonathan.Schaffir@osumc.edu. The email
should include your idea for a topic, a brief (2-3sentence) description of the module and yourcontact information. Dr Schaffir will then be incontact with further instructions about the format
and submission process. We hope that you enjoy
visiting our website and learning more about
psychosomatic ob/gyn!

We will let you know when the GAMMH website
goes live around the middle of March 2018.
Please pass on this exiting news to SPOG
members and colleagues in your country!

Membership Fees
Thank you to the country representatives who
have paid their country's 2017 membership fees.
Please contact Dr Vivian Pramataroff-Hamburger,
ISPOG Treasurer at treasurer@ispog.org for further
information about ISPOG 2018 membership andhow to pay.

Call for local information for
ISPOG website
Please send details of local activities (POG
meetings, courses, collaborations, conferences,etc.) in your country.
To advertise your events on the ISPOG website
please forward the information to the ISPOG
Secretariat Bianca Scarlett atadmin@ispog.org.au

ExCo Meeting at theESC Congress Budapest 9-12 May 2018
ExPo Congress Hotel
Thursday 10 May 2018
1430 – 1830
http://www.escrh.eu/15th-esc-congress
ExCo DinnerThursday 10 May 2018
1930, we will send details of the venue soon

ISPOG contributions to ESC Congress
May 2018 in Budapest
http://www.escrh.eu/15th-esc-congress
Pre-congress Workshop:
Wednesday 9 May 2018, 1500-1745
How to prevent and minimise contraceptive
failure - The psychosomatic perspective andapproach’
Chairs / Facilitators:
Heather Rowe, Australia
Sibil Tschudin, Switzerland
Symposium:Thursday 10 May 2018, 1215-1345‘Good peri-abortion care from a bio-psychosocial perspective’
Presentations / speakers:‘Peri-abortion care: When is it too much andwhen too little?’
Sibil Tschudin, Basel Switzerland‘What are women's emotional needs? Evidence and practice’
Heather Rowe, Melbourne Australia‘Implications for training’Marieke Paarlberg, Apeldoorn TheNetherlands

ISPOG Activities
ISPOG continues to be active in other societies,
including in contributions on behalf of ISPOG atcongresses in 2018
EBCOG Paris 8-10 March 2018
http://www.ebcog2018.org/
 Masterclass: ‘Counselling and care forpatients with sexual problems’Johannes Bitzer, Vivian- PramataroffHamburger
 Session on psychosomatics: ‘The
psychosocial perspective of teenage
pregnancies’ and ‘Psychosocial issues offertility preservation and implications forcounselling’
Sibil Tschudin

International Marcé Society for Perinatal
Mental Health Bangalore (Bengaluru)
India 26-28 September 2018
http://www.marce2018.com/
 Pre congress workshop: ‘Prevention of
burnout in professionals engaged in the fieldof perinatal care’
Heather Rowe and Sibil Tschudin
Symposium (title to be confirmed)

FIGO XXII World Congress Rio
14-19 October 2018https://figo2018.org/
 Symposium: Sexual and reproductive health– the bio-psycho-social perspective ‘Sexuality in everyday gynaecologicalpractice - the language of the somaticsymptoms’
Johannes Bitzer ‘Termination of pregnancy: Impact on wellbeing and sexuality and resulting preventive
strategies’
Sibil Tschudin ‘Epigenetics, reproductive health andpsychosocial wellbeing’
Leroy Edozien ‘The relationship between mode of delivery
and sexual health outcomes after childbirth’Alexandre Faisal Cury

ISPOG Member Events
DGPFG16-17 March 2018
Westend Berlin
Germany
https://dgpfg.de/weiterbildung/jahrestagungdgpfg-2018/2018 NASPOG Biennial Meeting
20-22 Apri 2018
Philadelphia, PAUSA
http://www.naspog.org/index.php/biennialmeeting
ASPOG 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting
2-4 August 2018
Western Sydney University, Parramatta CBD,
SydneyAustralia
https://aspog.org.au/current-conference/