Test for premature births gets funding

A Cork research centre working on developing a test to predict which mums-to-be are predisposed to giving birth prematurely has attracted investment from a major American multinational.

Waters Corporation, which makes analytical lab instruments, is investing in the INFANT centre in University College Cork (UCC) where work is ongoing on developing the test described as the “Holy Grail” of obstetrics.

Professor Louise Kenny, director of the research centre, who has been working on the test for more than 14 years, said it has the potential to effectively “predict the future” by indicating in the first 15 weeks whether the expectant mum is likely to develop PTB (spontaneous pre-term birth) later in the pregnancy. Having this information would help manage the pregnancy with a view to preventing pre-term birth which is one of the biggest causes of illness and death in newborns.