Thyroid Health Cohort - Mothers and Babies at Yorkhill (MABY)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Giving children the best start in life: the Mothers and Babies at Yorkhill (MABY) Thyroid Health Cohort
IRAS ID
153466
Contact name
Emilie Combet
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde,
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Iodine is a critical component of thyroid hormones, which are essential for normal growth, and brain development - most of the latter occurring during fetal life and in the first three years of life. Maternal dietary iodine is the sole source for fetuses and for exclusively breast-fed infants. Recent evidence indicates that the UK female population is not iodine sufficient. Thus a significant proportion of UK pregnant women will also be insufficient in dietary iodine with potential harmful consequences for their babies. We wish to investigate the relationship between maternal iodine status (sufficient versus insufficient) in the third trimester of pregnancy, the mode of neonatal feeding (exclusively breast fed vs exclusively formula fed); and the effect this has on the functioning of the newborn baby's thyroid gland, with provision for later cognitive follow-up assessment. In order to do this, we will determine:
i) the iodine status of the mother during pregnancy and in the immediate post-natal period (dietary and urinary) and the newborn infant (urinary),
ii) the thyroid function of the mother (thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroglobulin, T4 in serum during pregnancy, and thyroid stimulating hormone and thyroglobulin in dried blood spots post-partum) and infant (thyroid stimulating hormone in dried blood spots collected during a routine procedure).
Our hypothesis is that babies whose mothers are iodine insufficient will show higher levels of TSH and thyroglobulin than the babies of iodine sufficient mothers. If this proves true, then iodine supplementation would be advisable in the Scottish pregnant population and/or exclusively breast feeding mothers so as to prevent any risk of neurological impairment in Scottish neonates.REC name
West of Scotland REC 1
REC reference
14/WS/1125
Date of REC Opinion
22 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion