Around 50,000 babies are born too early in the UK each year, yet so little is known about what causes premature birth or how to prevent it. Our projects aim to improve understanding of the conditions that put babies at risk of an early birth and enable doctors to find new treatments.
Premature birth: role of hormones in the membranes surrounding the baby
Premature birth is the biggest killer of babies in the UK.1-3,a,b Sadly, around 1,500 babies die here each year after being born too soon and many who survive develop lifelong health problems.1-3,a,b Researchers are investigating how a hormone called oxytocin might help trigger labour by acting on the membranes surrounding the baby.
Research Training Fellowship: Dr S Khanjani
Each year, Action Medical Research awards these prestigious grants to help the brightest and best doctors and scientists develop their career in medical research. Dr Khanjani’s grant of £86,694 will fund her 18-month study into the molecules that trigger premature labour, with the longer-term aim of finding a way to prevent it.
Could blocking inflammation be the key to preventing premature birth?
The leading cause of death in babies is premature birth.1 Recent studies suggest that inflammation plays a key role in the onset of preterm labour. By studying the molecules and receptors involved, researchers hope to reveal better ways to stop babies being born too soon.
Stopping contractions in preterm labour
Each year in the UK, around 1,500 babies die because they are born too soon.1,2,3 Premature babies who do survive are at risk of developing serious, lifelong disabilities, such as cerebral palsy. Often, the first indication of a problem is when a woman arrives at hospital in preterm labour.
Preventing the onset of preterm labour
Premature birth is the biggest single cause of death in infants.1,2,3,6,7 Yet attempts to stop women from going into labour early have been largely unsuccessful. Researchers are studying the physiological processes that trigger labour, on a molecular level. They hope to identify potential drugs that might be able to help stop babies from being born too soon.
Halting premature labour
About 50,000 babies are born prematurely each year in the UK.1,2,3,4 Those born very early are at risk of dying, or developing serious disabilities. Yet our attempts to halt premature labour are largely unsuccessful. Researchers are trying to find out what triggers labour, in the ultimate hope of developing ways to stop so many babies from being born too soon.
Deprivation and premature birth
Premature birth is the single biggest cause of death in babies. Women from deprived areas seem to be at increased risk of giving birth very prematurely, but no-one knows why. Researchers are searching for answers, with the ultimate aim of helping disadvantaged women have healthier babies.
Premature birth: is inflammation to blame?
Premature babies are at enormous risk of death and disability. Yet doctors don't know how to stop women from going into labour too early and can't predict who will be affected. Researchers are studying whether inflammation leads to early labour. They hope this will reveal how to prevent premature birth.
Preterm delivery – how does progesterone prevent it?
About 50,000 babies are born preterm each year in the UK. Preterm birth is the single biggest cause of disability, including blindness, deafness, severe developmental delay and cerebral palsy. Preventing preterm labour and delivery would have a major impact in averting lifelong disability in babies.These researchers want to study how the hormone progesterone can prevent pre-term delivery.
Looking for pathways that lead to premature labour
Preterm labour is the major cause of infant death and disability but it is ‘early’ preterm delivery, before 32 weeks, which is of greatest importance. Of 600,000 live births per year in the UK, about 8,000 will be after early preterm labour, and at birth weights below 1500g .
Searching for new agents to prevent premature birth
Up to 1 in 10 pregnancies end with delivery before 'full term', and babies born prematurely risk suffering from long term physical or mental disability. Furthermore, of those babies that die shortly after birth, up to 65% were premature. Despite this, in many cases, the cause of premature labour remains a mystery. This may be because the mechanisms controlling labour are poorly understood.
Premature labour
Preterm delivery causes death and disability in 6-11% of all pregnancies and caring for a premature baby can have a profound emotional effect on a family. Nearly half of these premature births are due to the process of labour starting early. These researchers will study the effect of compounds made from fats on muscle contractions.
Premature labour – mechanisms controlling contractions
Premature delivery occurs in around 7-10% of all pregnancies and is the major cause of death and long term disability in newborns. There is no effective treatment for preterm labour and the development of drugs has been hampered by a lack of understanding of the mechanism of labour.
Preterm labour and links to infection
Very premature infants are at high risk of problems that affect their brains, lungs, and immune systems. The brains of these tiny babies seem particularly vulnerable, and life-long disability may result.
Premature labour
Premature contraction of the uterus is one of the major causes of pre-term labour. In the UK, 2-4% of all babies (up to 26,000 per year) are born very prematurely before 32 weeks of pregnancy, and these babies account for 75% of all admissions to intensive neonatal care units. Currently, doctors are unable to delay uterine contractions with massive health consequences.
