5 minute read
Does the microbiome affect pregnancy outcomes?
by IN-SPHERE
MothersBabies Study: a world first
What if there was a way of screening for the risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and other perinatal and postnatal health conditions simply by looking at a person’s microbiome? Researchers of the largest pre-pregnancy study in the world, the MothersBabies Study, are hoping their research into the microbiome will help them develop exactly that.
The MothersBabies Study, conducted by UNSW Microbiome Research Centre which includes researchers from SPHERE’s Maternal Newborn and Women’s Clinical Academic Group, has the potential to transform pregnancy, birth and early childhood health outcomes. And it all begins with looking at the microbiome.
But first, what is the microbiome and why is it important? The microbiota is the community of microorganisms such as bacteria, archaea, viruses, protozoa and fungi living in or on the human body. The microbiome is the collective genome content of that microbiota and has been recognised as a major contributor to human health.
Due to growing worldwide research, it is now accepted that the development of a person’s microbiome begins well before birth and can impact the health of the next generation, explains the study’s Principal Investigator, Professor Emad El-Omar.
“The MothersBabies Study asks the important question: does the microbiome interact with a person’s health and lifestyle, ultimately contributing to pregnancy outcomes such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, excessive gestational weight gain, perinatal mood disorders and postnatal long-term health outcomes for both mother and child?” he said.
To determine this, researchers are recruiting 2000 mother/baby pairs across Australia commencing from pre-pregnancy and following them through to two years postpartum.
MothersBabies Project Manager, Naomi Strout, explains that the reason why the study commences prior to conception is to get a clearer picture of whether a woman’s microbiome before pregnancy, impacts pregnancy outcomes.
“We want to understand what women are doing in pre-conception time to determine whether it impacts, not only conception, but also early pregnancy and whether they will go on to develop any adverse pregnancy outcomes,” explains Naomi.
“We hope to be able to potentially prevent these adverse outcomes from occurring. If we can prevent things like pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes, then it has a massive downstream impact.
“By stopping the disease from happening also means we’re stopping any intervention that could be detrimental to the woman and reducing the risk for the babies in developing non-communicable diseases such as allergies, asthma and neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD, as they grow up.”
In the pre-conception stage, researchers collect an array of health data including information about the woman’s diet, physical activity, lifestyle and sleep, obstetric history, mental health, previous pregnancy complications and birth outcomes, impact of COVID-19 as well as use of drugs, alcohol, antibiotics, multivitamins and probiotics. Blood, urine and stool samples are taken every three months until the woman becomes pregnant. Once the woman falls pregnant, samples are taken in each trimester. These samples include stool, blood and urine samples as well as oral, vaginal and skin swabs.
“This gives us a really good overview of what the microbiome changes look like during pregnancy.
“The microbiome has been shown to change in pregnancy. However, it is unclear when it changes and whether it bounces back to preconception ‘norms’ in the postpartum phase. Knowing when this happens, and if the changes cause adverse outcomes enables us to potentially prevent adverse outcomes from occurring,” explains Naomi.
“Once the baby is born, we commence taking samples from the baby including urine and stool samples as well as a skin and oral swab. The first of these collections is at one week post birth.”
After this time, the sample collections are paired with the mother and baby at two months, six months, one year and two years post birth. At these stages, health information about the baby is also taken including length, weight, head circumference, vaccination updates, type of birth, mode of feeding, developmental milestones, illness, any medications and impact of COVID-19.
“We have made these time frames consistent with the ‘My Personal Health Record’ blue book for baby’s developmental checks to make it easier for mothers to remember visits and so they don’t have to collate additional data.”
The study aims to recruit 2000 mother/baby pairs and more than 500 women have been recruited so far. Women from every state in Australia are represented, across both urban and rural areas.
“NSW Health is also on board which means we will be able to start collecting blood and urine samples from NSW-based participants who come into the hospital setting,” explains Naomi.
If you're interested in taking part or want to know more about the study, contact mothersbabies@unsw.edu.au or SMS 0436 410 746. To sign up, go to: unsw.to/mothersbabies
