Dr Emmanuel Karantanis

Andrea, thanks so much for sending me this photo of your handsome young boys Harrison and Austin. It’s a delight to see how they are growing. You’re a lucky lady. All the best xx

Thank you Maria for sending me this beautiful photo of William who is now nine months old. He has officially spent just as much time out of the womb as in and is already cruising the furniture! What a cutie!

What a delight to deliver this lovely young man, Huxley

Yesterday I was so happy to return to my High School, Endeavour, to be inducted into the Distinguished Achievers Hall of Fame. Thanks so much to principal Mr Kozlowski and his lovely staff for their hospitality and considering me for this award. It was wonderful to give a speech to the students and put on my old school captain tie one more time.

Here is Patrick hanging out at hospital with his two gorgeous boys Sam and Noah, while Chontelle has a well deserved break in the days after giving birth.

Meet Maurice and Billy! Beautiful brothers whom I helped bring to the world in 2020 and very recently. There’s nothing better than seeing happy healthy smiling children.

I’m thrilled to have been nominated for the Endeavour Sports High School hall of fame! I’m proud to be an Endeavour boy and will always hold my school dearly in my heart.

VOTE NOW FOR OUR 2022 INDUCTEE TO OUR DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVER HALL OF FAME: Who will be your choice from these amazing former Endeavour students for this prestigious award?
Use the link at the bottom of the bios to cast your vote.

MELISSA FRASER (NEE TROTTER)
Melissa Fraser (nee Trotter) is a partner at the international law firm Ashurst. After graduating from Endeavour Melissa completed a double degree in Science and Law. She also has a Diploma of EU Competition Law from King's College in London and is currently completing a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne. Melissa spent several years practising in London advising on UK and EU antitrust law. In addition to now being a partner at Ashurst, Melissa is a guest lecturer at University of New South Wales in the Competition Law Masters class.

STEPHEN LONG
Stephen Long is a Walkley Award winning and multi award winning journalist. Stephen is an investigative reporter whose work has appeared on Four Corners, Foreign Correspondent, 7.30, ABC News, ABC Radio Current Affairs, ABC News Online, and in the news and opinion pages of the Australian Financial Review and the Sydney Morning Herald. At Endeavour he was house captain and school vice captain, was a member of the opens rugby league team and was also school athletics champion.

DR EMMANUEL KARANTANIS
Dr Emmanuel Karantanis is an Obstetrician and Urogynaecologist in the St George Area, and a Conjoint Associate Professor at UNSW. Emmanuel was School Captain and Dux of Endeavour in 1987. He attended Medical School at the University of New South Wales and graduated with honours. He trained for two years in London to advance his skills and undertook further training in the urogynaecology subspecialty training program at St George and St Vincents Hospitals to become a certified urogynaecologist. Dr Karantanis is involved with teaching medical students, midwives and doctors and he runs courses for medical and midwifery staff on prevention techniques for severe birth injuries and how to repair them. He conducts research and continues to publish in the scientific literature.

MURRAY COOK
Murray Cook attended his senior high school years at Endeavour. A musician and actor, Murray was one of the founding members of the children's band the Wiggles from 1991 to 2012 after meeting fellow Wiggles studying early childhood education at Macquarie University. He provided guitar, vocals, and songwriting in the group, and remained involved with its creative and production aspects after his retirement. In 2013, Cook served as the Wiggles' tour manager. He also remained active in many music projects, including, after 2015, writing and performing with the Sydney soul-rock band The Soul Movers.

DR LAUREN GARDNER
Dr Lauren Gardner (Stuart) graduated from Endeavour in 2008 and is now a Research Fellow at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney. She holds a Bachelor of Psychology with first class Honours and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Wollongong. Her current research focus is on developing, evaluating and taking to scale preventive eHealth interventions for secondary school students. Lauren is also leading the Climate Schools/OurFutures project, which aims to take the effective Climate Schools/OurFutures health and wellbeing programs to scale and support secondary schools to prevent mental ill-health, alcohol and other drug use and related harms.

RYAN TATE
Ryan Tate has had a highly successful career as a Stage, Company and Event Manager. Previously living in London for many years, he is now based in Sydney. Ryan obtained a university degree with distinction in creative arts, communication, theatre production and media studies. He has a diverse background in touring productions, large-scale musicals and theatre productions, as well as extensive experience in international events like, Sydney Festival 2020 and London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies. His theatre credits include “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, Bell Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”, “42nd Street”, “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The King and I”.

NICOLAS HOGIOS
After graduating from Endeavour Nicolas Hogios completed a Bachelor of Industrial Design with Honours at the University of NSW. He was six when he sketched his first car, which heralded a life-long passion for automotive design. After graduating from university, he earned the “New Designer of the Year” award from Ford and “Wheels” magazine. He started working at Ford as a junior designer in Melbourne. Two years later, he had the position of the senior designer where he helped design the Falcon BA XR6 and XR8. Nicholas then worked for Toyota in Australia and is still in the same company as Chief Designer – Product Design.

BASIL HOGIOS
Basil Hogios is a composer, musical director, sound / vision designer, and producer, working internationally in film, television, performing arts, album production and art installation. For the screen, Basil has scored over thirty films, from features to shorts, many of them screening in international film festivals and winning awards.

DANIEL PATRICK
Los Angeles based Daniel Patrick (Jarvis) now designs clothes that are worn by Justin Bieber, Steve Aoki, Bad Bunny and NBA star James Harden, the latter of whom Patrick has worked with on limited-edition sneakers for sportswear behemoth Adidas.
Daniel was a member of the Rugby League TSP and has taken his work ethic and dedication into the world of fashion where his success has been written about in the LA Times.

Vote via this link: https://forms.gle/GiU6G1Nukvc5nqsW9

A beautiful photo of baby Grace and mum Rebecca in the minutes after Grace’s birth. This photo captures the moment I was guiding dad Troy in cutting the umbilical cord. Amazing job Rebecca.

I was fortunate enough to meet the Queen back in 2002 when she was the patron of our college in London. It was such an honour and a highlight of my career. End of an era.

I consider teaching to be an essential part of being a doctor. I could not have learned what I know without the help of patient teachers. One of those teachers is Greg Davis (pictured in second photo) who continues to help me teach junior doctors develop necessary skills. These pictures are from a workshop we ran last week showing doctors how to repair severe perineal tears. Doctors from all over the country come for this course that I have been running for 12 years now.

Congratulations Constance and Sam on the birth of your beautiful daughter Elara. She is a perfect bundle of joy!

Happy 1st birthday to little Nina! I can’t believe a year has passed already! Congratulations Georgia and Amir. I hope all your dreams for Nina come true.

I’ve been helping babies come to the world for about 25 years. Recently one of my many mums whom I helped deliver came to see me for a woman’s health check, and she shared with me this beautiful picture of Paige (whom I helped deliver 16 years ago) and younger brother William. They are gorgeous! Im so happy to see them thriving in the world.

Meet Johnathan! Born on 24 May. I stumbled on a doting mother and a caring midwife while visiting my mums at St George Private this morning.

An Obstetricians guide to getting pregnant, read my most recent blog here https://bit.ly/3NdGtsP

In pregnancy, it is common for women to experience, Morning Sickness, but sometimes this can be, All Day Sickness. In this post, Dr Emmanuel Karantanis answers 3 common questions on Morning Sickness.

Today, Dr Emmanuel Karantanis answers common questions on female infertility - causes and risk factors.

1. What are the top causes of infertility in women?

The top causes are conditions that affect ovulation, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome. However, problems with s***m quality is also a very common cause of problems in couples.

2. Who is most at risk of infertility?

Ability to conceive decreases as women reach their late 30s and early 40. These women are most at risk.

3. What are two of the most common misconceptions about female fertility that you have come across in your clinic?

One of the most common misconceptions is that endometriosis affects fertility; for at least 9 out of 10 women, endometriosis is not a problem at all. Another more recent misconception is that the Covid vaccine causes fertility issues. There is no evidence of this.

4. What are the most common signs of infertility?

There are no signs for the vast majority of women trying to conceive. The only side is that despite trying to have a baby, they are not succeeding.

5. How can a woman find out if she is fertile?

If a woman has a regular menstrual period, she is highly likely to be fertile. However, if she has concerns about the number of available eggs in her ovaries, her doctor can arrange a blood test that looks at Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) levels.

For many mothers following a caesarean birth, it is common that they would like to explore vaginal births for future babies. Below I answer some common questions on this.

Is it possible to have a vaginal birth after a caesarean section?

It is indeed possible to have a vaginal birth after a caesarean section (also called a VBAC or NBAC). Most women who have had a caesarean section for the birth of their first child would be okay to labour and to hopefully have a vaginal birth for their next child. About 70% of women who attempt to labour will achieve this outcome.

Does the number of previous caesarean sections affect the chances of having a VBAC?

A caesarean scar weakens the uterine muscle, such that in about 1 in 300 women, the scar can rupture during labour and threaten the unborn baby. A second caesarean section can weaken the scar even further such that the risk of scar rupture increases to 1 in 100.

Does the previous caesarean scar affect the success of a VBAC?

Many factors, and not just the caesarean scar can influence the success of a VBAC. The chance of a VBAC worsens if labour doesn't start on its own and requires induction, or if the previous caesarean occurred despite the mother reaching full dilatation. There are other potential factors that would also require consideration.

Skin to Skin Contact

When a mother gives birth to her baby by vaginal birth, she gets to hold her baby immediately- after all, it is her instinct to hold her baby. Then, she watches as her baby is weighed and sees the birthweight on the scales.

When a mother gives birth by Caesarean, the baby is often passed on to the midwife, who checks, cleans, and wraps the baby. Meanwhile, the mother's view of her baby is limited by a wall of surgical sheets. After the surgery is finished, a mother often spends the next 40 mins alone in recovery while her baby and partner go to the nursery or the maternity ward. Her partner tells her the birthweight as a baby will often get weighed on the ward.

In my practice, for mothers having a caesarean birth, I am committed to having the mother hold their babies and have skin to skin contact where possible once their babies are born. This should be the norm, not the exception or special privilege, especially where elective planned caesareans are concerned. The mother, baby and partner should stay together until the end of the caesarean procedure.

Also, where possible, mothers are with their baby and their partner in recovery.

Skin to skin contact is beneficial for both mother and baby, and it encourages bonding. Keeping her baby in the recovery room also improves the chance of breastfeeding within the first hour of birth.

When is skin to skin not possible during caesareans

To have a baby stay with a mother during a caesarean and the recovery area requires a midwife or mothercraft nurse to be present and requires a healthy baby that does not require medical care. This means that babies may not stay with their mums if they are distressed or unwell or need monitoring, or in situations where there is an insufficient number of midwifery or mothercraft staff to help. This may be the case during emergency caesareans, especially those that take place overnight.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Shevonne Hunt .com.au on her FeedPlatLove podcast earlier this year about the release of the Australian Commission of Safety and Quality in Health guidelines on the prevention and treatment of third and fourth degree tears. For those interested in listening to the podcast (on spotify), follow the link below to listen now!

https://spoti.fi/3mFhFic

Caring for my patients on their journey to parenthood is one of the most rewarding aspects of being an obstetrician. A lovely gesture from my patient Susan, with the recent safe arrival baby Hugo.

For mothers-to-be, before childbirth, it is common for several questions to come up about tears; below, I answer some of the most common questions about tears during childbirth, what can be done to decrease the severity and how to care for a tear following childbirth.

Is it common to tear during childbirth? And are these painful?

Perineal Tears are really common. 9 out of 10 women who have their first vaginal birth will have some degree of tearing. However, these tears are less frequent with subsequent births.

Are tears during childbirth painful?

Fortunately, women giving birth rarely notice a tear is happening during childbirth. If stitches are needed, the area is usually made numb before stitches are inserted. As a result, the stitches can feel tight for about ten days. The good news is the stitches dissolve and no longer need removal. The vast majority of women return to being pain-free after 3-4 weeks.

Is it better to tear or be cut during childbirth?

A tear is definitely better than a cut (known as an episiotomy) because it is usually less painful afterwards and heals more quickly. But sometimes, an episiotomy is essential, for example, with instrumental birth or a distressed baby, where more room is needed to help the baby come out more quickly and where there is a risk of more serious tearing that can be avoided with the episiotomy. Usually, when episiotomies are made, they are not noticed by the woman giving birth.

Is there anything I can do to prevent tears during vaginal birth?

Perineal Massage is thought to decrease the chance of episiotomy. In labour, warm compresses may decrease the chance of more severe tears.

How long do tears take to heal?

Tears heal very well. They don’t need any special attention after birth besides simply washing with water and drying the area.