Dr Pam Mahon

Superintendent Sonographer

pam-mahonI graduated from West Mercia School of Radiography in Birmingham in 1985 and went on to work at The Royal Marsden Hospital, Surrey in the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound. In 1986 I took up the post of radiographer at The Hillingdon Hospital, Uxbridge, where I remained for 8 years in general radiography, nuclear medicine, mammography and ultrasound. In this post I discovered that I enjoyed ultrasound and especially obstetric scanning and I trained at the Central Middlesex Hospital in ultrasound, gaining my Diploma of Medical Ultrasound in 1990. In 1994 I began a 7 year post, co-ordinating the maternity ultrasound services at Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon, where I trained ultrasound students from Cranfield University and the Armed Forces.

My experience in obstetrics and teaching inspired me to venture into research and so I joined the Southampton Women’s Survey in September 2001 as Superintendent Sonographer. In this post I was responsible for the scanning of pregnant women in the study and assisting with the analysis and publication of the data we obtained. I gained my MA in Osteoarchaeology from the University of Southampton in 2002, and in 2007 I was awarded a PhD for my work using 3D ultrasound to examine how baby’s bones develop.

My findings suggested that insufficient vitamin D in the blood of pregnant women can lead to altered bone shape in their babies. Later in the child’s life there could be the possibility of bone weakness and even osteoporosis. So it is important that our research continues, so that we can suggest ways of preventing bone disease. This will aid the health of future generations. We are getting some really important findings from the data we are collecting and we wouldn’t be able to do it without the participants in the SWS.