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Preterm labour
Premature birth or pre-term birth is the biggest single cause of death of new born babies in the western world.
Of 600,000 live births per year in the UK, approximately 8,000 babies will weigh less than 1600g. Of average, about 1600 will die and at least 600 will develop a major handicap such as brain damage or cerebral palsy. Pre-term babies require intensive care which is extremely costly to the NHS, typically costing around £2500 a day to maintain a baby in an incubator. If the baby survives it is likely to be handicapped, often severely. Moreover, pre-term labour tends to repeat itself in each subsequent pregnancy. Most importantly, the effect of having such a fragile life can be devastating for the family. Not only is there immediate anxiety for the health and survival of the baby, but often the prospect of long-term care for more than one child. Professor Bennett is making discoveries into the reason why women go into labour too early.
Pre-term labour is a symptom, not a disease. It happens for many different reasons. For example, damage to the neck of the womb, an abnormality in the neck of the womb, abnormality of the shape of the uterus, excessive stretching of the womb particularly in multiple pregnancies, bleeding of the womb and perhaps maternal stress. Professor Bennett and his team have discovered a major inflammatory factor that is responsible for initiating premature birth. This factor controls the activity of a network of genes, and Phil hopes to target these genes in his search to prevent so many small babies being born, a highly promising approach which may is likely to delay premature labour and protect babies from handicap.
One aspect of Phil’s work is to combine resources at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital and run a specialised clinic for women that have experienced premature labour or a late miscarriage. This clinic not only provides emotional support but also skilled obstetric monitoring. Specialised ultrasound is used to detect changes in the cervix, the neck of the womb, which helps detect the possibility of early labour. The clinic helps these women in various ways, both with specialised drugs and other interventions.
