Pregnant women and new mums in Newham to benefit from research centre

Newham University Hospital is participating in a new research programme to improve the health of women before and after pregnancy.

Patients at the hospital in Glen Road, Plaistow, will have access to novel imaging technology to identify healthy embryos in IVF along with four other hospitals.

They will also have the chance to be take part in a study looking at preventing diabetes in pregnancy, preventing excess bleeding during childbirth and preventing post-birth diabetes.

“Diabetes, bleeding following childbirth, obesity – these are all key problems for our local community,” said professor Shakila Thangaratinam, joint lead researcher at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

“But we’re creating a visibility and addressing problems in mothers who need it most and helping to put findings into clinical practice.”

Mothers in east London are at high risk of newborn and maternal complications and Barts Charity, part of the NHS trust, has awarded £2 million to create a Barts Women’s Health Research Centre in Whitechapel.