Experiences of women attending a preterm birth clinic
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Experiences of women attending a preterm birth clinic: a qualitative study
IRAS ID
134988
Contact name
Maggie Redshaw
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Research summary
Preterm babies are those born alive before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy (WHO 2012). The national preterm birth rate is 7.7 % of all births in 2005 (ONS 2011).Preterm birth accounts for 75% of neonatal mortality and 50% of long term neurological complications in children (Martin 2002). It is also associated with emotional and economic costs for the family and society (Petrou 2001). Currently, no single strategy has been found to be effective in delaying early births (Wisanskoonwong 2011). The effectiveness of preterm clinics has been reported from a number of studies showing that close surveillance of women at high risk of preterm birth in a specialist clinic setting resulted in a reduction in preterm births (Bienstock 200, Manuck 2011, Karkhanis 2012). There is little evidence from women themselves and so we are planning a qualitative interview study on the views of women with high risk pregnancies about their antenatal care, testing, treatment, satisfaction, reassurance and overall management of their pregnancy while using such specialist clinics.
Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with women referred to preterm clinics in two settings: at St Thomas' hospitals in London and at John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. These two sites have been chosen, because of the richness of the information. The Clinic in London is the first and largest in the UK and also the first clinic to use quantitative foetal fibronectin test to predicate labour. The applicant carried out preliminary visits to these sites, in order to explore possible research relationships, and to define research collaborations with the clinic’s teams. The data collection period will be up to six months. This project is funded by the Department of Health (DH).
REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1689
Date of REC Opinion
6 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion