Having pursued a successful career in retail consultancy, Nicola Enoch’s life changed drastically when in August 2004 her son Tom was born with Down syndrome. 

Having realised the developmental needs of children with Down syndrome, in 2006 Nicola formed The Ups of Downs in Warwickshire and subsequently created a network of support groups across the UK to disseminate best practice.

Positive about Down syndrome was born in 2017 in response to a lack of information to support to expectant and new parents around the reality of living with Down syndrome. 

PADS supports more than 2,000 expectant and new parents, regularly delivers training to medical professionals and works with policy makers to address the discrimination that all too often prevails in maternity care towards Down syndrome, as highlighted in Sharing the news report, published 2019.

Under the umbrella of Down Syndrome UK, PADS sits alongside the award nominated toilet training initiative #PantsforSchool supporting over 4,500 children in the UK to become toilet trained.

Nicola is a Founding Officer and Vice Chair of the National Down Syndrome Policy Group providing the secretariat to the APPG on Down Syndrome, pivotal in creation of Dr Liam Fox MP’s Down Syndrome Bill, which became the Down Syndrome Act 2022.

Nicola is passionate about ensuring expectant parents have access to the information and support they deserve, and in 2018 delivered a TEDx talk ‘How I nearly terminated my son through ignorance’.

Nicola regularly speaks at midwifery events and has been published by the British Journal of Midwifery, the Royal College of Midwives, AIMS and International Journal of Birth and Parent Education.