Babies to benefit from research programme

ALMOST 50,000 babies born in eight maternity hospitals in Ireland every year are to benefit from a research programme that aims to reduce infant sickness and mortality before and soon after birth.

A all-Ireland clinical research consortium called Perinatal Ireland is to use the latest ultrasound technologies and equipment to enhance observation and improve the detection of abnormalities while the baby is still in the womb.

The Health Research Board (HRB) announced yesterday that it had invested €3.9m in the project.

The money will be used to fund ultrasound equipment and computer hardware, image analysis equipment and dedicated research staff.

Almost one-in-10 babies will develop Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) during pregnancy, a condition in which the foetus does not grow properly in the mother’s womb.

While the majority of the babies are just small but healthy, others are seriously impaired in their development and a significant proportion will be stillborn or will die soon after birth.

Perinatal Ireland is a multi-centre research collaboration between leading consultant obstetricians in eight of the principal maternity hospitals across the island of Ireland and led by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).

Hospitals involved in the project include the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Coombe Women’s Hospital, Dublin, National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Cork University Hospital, Mid-Western Hospital, Limerick, University Hospital Galway and Royal Hospitals, Belfast.

Chairman of the consortium is Professor Fergal Malone, head of the RCSI’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and a consultant at the Rotunda Hospital.

“By using this new diagnostic equipment, we hope to identify the difference between a baby that is small and a baby at risk,” Mr Malone said.