Cambridge doctor to help lead UK's largest pre-eclampsia study
Dr Bernie Jenner is helping lead the study into the issue caused in pregnancy
A study being led by Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge is aiming to find out why women develop pre-eclampsia and placental issues during pregnancy.
Up to 3,500 women are due to take part in the POPPY study (Preconception to pOst-partum study of cardiometabolic health in Primigravid PregnancY), which also looks into whether these problems could affect their long-term health.
It's the first large scale study of its kind in the UK.
Dr Bernie Jenner is a medical registrar in obstetric medicine and clinical pharmacology at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and is leading the POPPY study in Cambridge.
“We’re looking at pre-eclampsia, which is a blood pressure problem that happens in pregnancy and means your blood pressure goes up but can also affect your kidneys or liver,” she said.
"It can also affect the growth of a baby"
“And it can affect the growth of a baby and may mean you need to deliver earlier when expected.
“What we’re trying to do is figure out why women develop pre-eclampsia but have this long-term risk as well.”
The study is being led by a team from the CUH and the University of Cambridge and is thought to be the first large scale study of its kind in the UK.
Placental complications affect around 1 in 10 pregnancies and includes:
- Pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure with kidney/liver/brain involvement)
- Gestational hypertension (high blood pressure in pregnancy)
- Fetal growth restriction (baby being small).
Women will be monitored before, during and after their first pregnancy to see what factors might be influencing the health of their placenta and their long-term cardiovascular risk.
Blood tests some of the measures involved in study
It’s hoped that by understanding this risk, the health of women who develop placental complications can also be improved over their lifetime.
Dr Jenner said height, weight, blood tests and an ultrasound scan are some of the measures that researchers will take on those who take part in the study.
And by doing so, she believes these tests will help women head into pregnancy in the best possible health.
“We're looking for 3,000 women planning their first pregnancy and 500 women not planning a pregnancy in the next year,” Dr Jenner said.
“When we look at the MBRRACE-UK report, done every three years as to why women die in pregnancy, one of the factors is pre-eclampsia and in the last report, that’s gone up,” Dr Jenner said.
“There is always expansion in terms of different things we can test which if we can pick those up before pregnancy, might be something that helps guide us to find out which of the women develop pre-eclampsia and how we can prevent it.”
Professor Ian Wilkinson is leading the POPPY study and is a clinical pharmacologist and Professor of Therapeutics at the University of Cambridge:
"Many women who suffer from pre-eclampsia, or one of the other placental complications, are not aware of the potential long-term risks, and very few of them are actively followed up after birth,” he said.
“It is important that women who have experienced one of these complications are seen by a medical professional in the months after delivery to ensure that their blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors are checked."