Premature labour
| Location: | Academic Division of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Nottingham at Derby and the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham |
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| Amount: | £95,930 |
| Status: | Research completed |
| Start Date: | 1st December 2003 |
| Finish Date: | 6th September 2006 |
| Grantholder: | Dr R N Khan PhD, Dr D A Barrett PhD, Dr B Matharoo-Ball |
| Research worker: | Mrs Jihong Zhang |
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. They aim to find out whether a change in production of these compounds can trigger muscle contractions and labour before the baby is ready to be born.
In the short term, the processes that control the contractions of labour will be better defined. In the long term, this may lead to the development of new, effective drugs to treat preterm labour.
Dr Raheela Khan busy at work
