A study to explore how environmental exposures during pregnancy may influence the risk of stillbirth.
This research study aims to understand the relationship between some key environmental factors a woman may encounter during pregnancy, and the potential risk of stillbirth.
With over half of stillbirths remaining unexplained, it's crucial to identify new risk factors and understand how they might affect the health of both the mother and the baby.
Building on previous work exploring links between environmental factors and pregnancy outcomes, this study aims to find out how certain factors, including exposure to sunlight, high or low temperatures and levels of air pollution, might influence the health outcomes of mothers and babies, especially the risk of stillbirth.
Researchers will link information from Scottish health records to corresponding environmental records, creating a comprehensive database. This linked data will then be analysed to see if there are any patterns between the factors in the environmental records and the pregnancy outcomes in the health records.
The findings from the study should improve our understanding of potential environmental risk factors for stillbirth, leading to better public health guidance for pregnant women. By measuring the impact of environmental exposures, we can measure the potential number of stillbirths caused by these factors.
If the study discovers significant associations with certain environmental factors, further research can then delve deeper into these connections, and inform targeted public health interventions, particularly in areas with high pollution levels. The outcomes will also assist clinicians in identifying pregnancies at higher risk of stillbirth.
The study is due to last 18 months and Teddy’s Wish has contributed £26,000.
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