The UK government has today (20th September 2021) announced that flour in the UK is to be fortified with folic acid, a move welcomed by the P3 Study team. This will help to prevent neural tube defects such as: Spina bifida – where the membranes around the spine do not close properly, which can problems with walking or controlling the bladder

The P3 Study is now recruiting women to join a patient and public involvement group. This group will play a key role in how the next stages of the study are designed, how we interpret our results, and what research we carry out in the future. What is patient and public involvement? Patient and public involvement (also known as PPI) in

The use of the fertility treatment known as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), in which an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory, is consistently and dramatically increasing in the UK and other developed countries. 1-5% of babies born in the developed world are now conceived using this technology. The evidence on how common

Dr Jennifer Hall, lead researcher on the P3 Study, took part in a 2 day symposium in Boston, USA on 13th and 14th February, with Prof. Anna David, Director of the UCL Institute for Women’s Health, who set up the Preterm Birth clinical service at UCLH in 2008, and which is now one of the busiest in the UK. The

In October we were delighted to welcome Dr Ana Borges to UCL. Dr Borges is an Associate Professor at the University of Sao Paulo Public Health Nursing Department, Brazil. Her interest is sexual and reproductive health, with a focus on understanding contraceptive use patterns among Brazilian women, in particular, the relationships between contraceptive behaviour and unintended pregnancy, since the use

Women are increasingly turning to smartphone apps to track everything from their periods to their fertility. There is a multitude of such apps available, which only demonstrates how popular they’ve become in recent years. New technologies, and in particular self-tracking, are changing the way we perceive our bodies and health. Both users and doctors wonder about the opportunities and the

New research confirms that the risk of stillbirth is doubled if women go to sleep on their backs in the third trimester. In the UK around 1 in 225 pregnancies end in stillbirth. The largest study to examine maternal sleep and late stillbirth is the Midlands and North of England Stillbirth study which found that women that go to sleep

As the role of women in society evolves, the presence of women who are childfree has been a focus of popular media and current research. Today, the numbers of women who are choosing to be childfree is increasing, however society is not always adjusting to the idea of women not becoming mothers. 2017 saw the lowest number of births since

Miscarriage is the most common complication of pregnancy. It can be an unexpected and emotionally devastating diagnosis for women and their partners, and the effects can last into subsequent pregnancies. Despite its frequency, miscarriage can sometimes be shrouded in shame and silence, even amongst friends and family. Because of the folklore surrounding miscarriage and the frequent reluctance of those who