Mothers and babies in east London will be helped by a new research centre set up to investigate problems in pregnancy and childbirth.
The area has the highest rate in the country for gestational diabetes — with 10-15 per cent of mothers being affected during pregnancy — and high levels of obesity and risk of problems during childbirth.
Gestational diabetes increases the blood sugar levels in women who do not have diabetes, placing them at risk of pre-eclampsia and requiring a Caesarean section.
The Barts Research Centre for Women’s Health will be officially opened tomorrow by Professor Lesley Regan, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, after a £2 million grant from Barts Charity.
It will focus on landmark research in four areas:
- Using time-lapse imaging to identify the healthiest embryos to improve the success rates of IVF.
- Preventing diabetes in pregnancy and its long-term risks.
- Preventing excessive bleeding during childbirth by looking at the effectiveness of a blood product called cryoprecipitate, which is used in the treatment of traumatic injury.
- Using the Mediterranean diet of nuts and olive oil to reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes in women who had gestational diabetes.
Professor Shakila Thangaratinam, joint lead researcher, said: “Diabetes, bleeding following childbirth, obesity — these are all key problems for our local community.
“But we’re creating a visibility at a national level too, addressing problems in mothers and helping to put findings into clinical practice nationwide.” The researchers, at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London, will recruit east London mothers onto clinical trials. The maternity services run by Barts Health NHS trust handle more than 20,000 births a year.
The work will build on earlier studies that have examined the benefits of expectant mothers following the Mediterranean diet.
Yetunde Awodeyi, a mother who took part in the study, said: “The trial introduced me to new types of food, like different types of nuts and new recipes. I stuck with the diet after Irewamiri was born — I feel healthy, I feel good, I feel so happy.”
Fiona Miller Smith, chief executive of Barts Charity, said: “We’re excited by the potential of this new Barts Women’s Health Research Centre. We’re committed to funding projects that make a real difference to the immediate communities we support, as well as impacting on healthcare on a broader scale — nationally and beyond.”
