Understanding pregnancy outcome and the metabolic syndrome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the relationship between stillbirth, placental disease and the metabolic syndrome
IRAS ID
247280
Contact name
Jenny Myers
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Women who have features of the ‘metabolic syndrome’ (abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, high blood pressure, high fasting glucose) are thought to be more likely to develop placental disease in pregnancy, including pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction and stillbirth. It is not clear which of the factors associated with the metabolic syndrome most impact on pregnancy outcome.
Approximately 200 postnatal women who have had their antenatal care at St Mary's Hospital Manchester in the specialist antenatal clinics (Rainbow, MAViS and Manchester Placenta Clinic) or general antenatal clinics will be recruited to evaluate their ‘metabolic health’. Women who have had pregnancies with a range of outcomes will be invited to attend a single postnatal research visit to evaluate their metabolic health. Women will undergo assessment of haemodynamics (blood pressure, pulse, oxygen saturations), anthropometric measurements (body mass index and waist circumference), and blood tests to measure triglyceride and lipid profile, inflammatory and cardiac markers. Subclinical markers of cardiovascular disease may be measured using Echocardiogram. These factors will then be assessed in relation to the outcome of the recent pregnancy, defined using clinical features and placental histology, in order to investigate their association with different pregnancy outcome groups.
Identification of the features of metabolic health which contribute most to pregnancy outcome will inform management of future pregnancies and allow identification of subgroups of women who are at increased risk of poor pregnancy outcome. Targeted intervention can then be planned for specific risk factors or patients who are identified as being at increased risk, and improve pregnancy outcomes in the study cohort and wider population long term.REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0487
Date of REC Opinion
27 Aug 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion