Professor Robert Pattinson obtained his MBBCh degree from University of Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa. He then spent two years in rural mission hospitals in South Africa and Namibia. He graduated as an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in 1985 (MRCOG, MMed, FCOG (SA)) from Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa. He was awarded an MRC Fellowship in Perinatal Medicine in Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom, under Professor Chris Redman. More recently, Professor Pattinson obtained an MD on the "Role of Doppler in assessing fetal wellbeing" from Stellenbosch University. Between 1992 and 1996 he was Professor and Clinical Head, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Kalafong Hospital and University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. Since 1997, he is the Director of the MRC (South Africa) Maternal and Infant Health Care Strategies Research Unit, Pretoria, South Africa. He is the editor of "Saving mothers: report on confidential enquiry into maternal deaths in South Africa" 1999. His research interests are, audits and developing and implementing effective health care strategies in maternal and infant health.