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Senior Clinical LecturerRuth Hughes

BSc(Cardiff) MB BCh(Wales) FRACP

Dr Ruth Hughes is a practicing Obstetric Physician at Christchurch Women’s Hospital and a Clinical Researcher and Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Otago. Ruth completed degrees in both Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Wales, Cardiff, UK.

Ruth migrated to New Zealand in 1996 and completed her postgraduate medical training in Christchurch and Auckland. In 2004, she undertook a Fellowship in Obstetric Medicine in Toronto, Canada. She was appointed Senior Medical Officer at Christchurch Women’s Hospital in 2005.

Research interests

Ruth is passionate about improving pregnancy outcomes for mothers with medical disorders. Her work integrates clinical practice with research to translate evidence-based screening into everyday care, aiming to improve outcomes for high-risk pregnancies. Early in her career, Ruth’s research contributed to the nationwide adoption of routine HbA1c screening at booking for women with pre-existing diabetes. Currently, she is focused on closing equity gaps in maternal health for individuals with prediabetes recognised at booking.

More recently, Ruth has explored the use of angiogenic biomarker screening for placental insufficiency, the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality in New Zealand. Collaborating with clinical biochemists and Canterbury Laboratories, her work led to the introduction of biomarker testing into routine clinical practice in Canterbury. These biomarkers offer the potential to personalise care for hapū māmā with suspected placental insufficiency, reducing unnecessary interventions while targeting support to those who need it most.

Ruth’s long-term vision includes influencing national guidelines to ensure equitable access to such testing throughout Aotearoa.

Teaching

Ruth regularly contributes to teaching 5th-year medical student, the postgraduate Diploma of Obstetrics and Gynaecology candidates, physician and obstetric registrars, and 2nd-year midwifery students, with a focus on maternal medical complications in pregnancy. She also contributes to diabetes in pregnancy study days for postgraduate midwifery practitioners.

Services to professional bodies

Ruth is an active member of the New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes (NZSSD) Diabetes in Pregnancy Working Group, and the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS). Through these roles, she supports collaborative research and the development of clinical guidelines to improve healthcare delivery for pregnant women with diabetes across New Zealand and Australia.

Publications

Hughes, R., & Lee, G. (2026). Diabetes in pregnancy: Routine screening for placental insufficiency using the sFlt/PlGF (DIPPS): Evidence to patent care. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes (NZSSD) Annual Scientific Meeting. (pp. 38). Retrieved from https://www.nzssd.org.nz/ Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Hughes, R. C. E., Abraham, E., Chan, H., & Williman, J. A. (2026). Rapid postpartum progression to diabetes following early antenatal prediabetes: Evidence from a multiethnic New Zealand cohort. Diabetes Care, 49(3), dc252200. doi: 10.2337/dc25-2200 Journal - Research Article

Hughes, R., MacKay, D., Gullam, J., & Florkowski, C. (2025). DIPPS stidu: Diabetes in pregnancy: Routine screening for placental insufficiency using the sFlt-1/PlGF. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 138(1619), (pp. 90). Retrieved from https://nzmj.org.nz/ Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Hughes, R. (2025, June). How can we utilise angiogenic biomarker testing (sFlt-1/PIGF) to improve care for mothers with hypertension in pregnancy? Verbal presentation at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) Aotearoa Annual Scientific Meeting, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Hughes, R. C. E., Kyle, P., Phillips, I., Florkowski, C. M., & Gullam, J. (2025). In suspected fetal growth restriction, sFlt-1/PlGF and PlGF may have value in risk stratification for preterm birth and birthweight < 3rd centile: A blinded cohort study. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/ajo.70003 Journal - Research Article

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