Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. Koji Hashii, Dr. Yoshihiro Yamahata, Dr. Reiko Mochizuki, Dr. Kazuya Kawamata, Dr. Hideaki Yoshihara, Dr. Mikiko Higashi, Dr. Mie Sakamoto and Dr. Eiji Kondo, who worked together with the instructors of the J-MELS. We also wish to acknowledge Dr. Naomi Arima, the chairman of the Kagoshima Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who promoted this programme all over the Kagoshima Prefecture. Finally, we would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.