The impact of endometriosis on pregnancy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The prevalence of endometriosis in pregnancy and its impact on maternal and fetal health
IRAS ID
219121
Contact name
Davor Jurkovic
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Endometriosis is a common benign condition, affecting women of reproductive age. It is estimated that endometriosis effects 2 to 10% of the general female population.
Traditionally, pregnancy was considered to have a positive effect on endometriosis and its painful symptoms. A growing literature is emerging on the role of endometriosis in affecting the development of pregnancy and its outcomes. Women with a diagnosis of endometriosis are reported to have a higher risk of ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, preterm birth, small for gestational age babies and Caesarean section.
Pregnancy has been shown to have a major effect on the size and morphological appearances of ovarian endometriomas and prospective studies are required to provide more information about the natural history of endometriomas in pregnancy.
There are no specific recommendations for additional interventions to the routine monitoring of pregnancy in women with a known history of endometriosis.We propose to collect information about all women who present to the early pregnancy unit (EPU) at University College London Hospital and are found to have endometriosis.
The main outcome of interest is the number of women who develop pre-term labour i.e. onset of labour before 37+0 weeks of pregnancy.
The information obtained from this study will help to better understand the relationship between endometriosis and pregnancy and develop recommendations for care of pregnant women with endometriosis in the future.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/WM/0315
Date of REC Opinion
26 Sep 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion