In 2016 I was approached by the Mum and Baby Academy (part of Life Cycle Marketing) for my expertise as a midwife and internationally renowned midwifery academic to become part of their professional consultant editorial team that review online modules covering a range of topics relevant to the role of practising healthcare professionals.

What do you get if you cover your entire car windscreen in cardboard? Zero vision. This is not to be confused with Vision Zero: that is something quite different, which I’ll explain in a moment. And in fact, if your car happens to be equipped with 360-degree cameras, then having zero vision through the windscreen is not the insurmountable obstacle that you might assume it to be. I’ll come back to that a bit later too.

I always find a driving holiday in France a splendid way to unwind, but it’s been a few years since we’ve managed to arrange a trip over the channel. Technology makes life very easy these days – a couple of smartphone apps made light work of booking the ferry and a cottage in the Dordogne. It’s a long drive, but more trusty apps mean we can find a hotel easily wherever we feel like stopping for the night.

As I drive around the corner, there it is. A bright orange beak, elongated curved neck and white feathered body are before me. Small dark beady eyes cautiously survey the growling monster which is my car as I come to a brisk stop on the road.

I recently had to take my seven year old cat, Mojo, on a short 10 minute car journey. From previous experiences driving to the vets, I was already aware that she wasn’t too keen on her cat carrier – this probably had something to do with the size of her!