Mother and Infant Research Unit MIRU

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Mother and Infant Research UnitMIRU

• Department of Health Sciences
• University of York
• November 2005

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Mother and Infant Research UnitStaff and funding

• 20 staff/students
• 3 academic posts, 1 support post university
  funded
• 9 research staff
• 4 support staff
• 1 NHS secondment
• 4 PhD students
• Collaborations with academic, professional, NHS,
  consumer colleagues locally, nationally,
  internationally

• External income
• 1 million total
• 500k annually
• Sources
• NHS RD
• NICE
• ESRC
• MRC
• FSA
• DH
• Health Foundation
• Local NHS Trusts

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Mother and Infant Research Unit

• .to contribute to improvement in the health and
  well-being of childbearing women, their babies
  and families

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Maternal and Infant Health

• Many interventions with the best chance of
  reducing health inequalities in mental and
  physical health relate to parents , particularly
  present and future mothers, and children
• (Acheson 1998)

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Mother and Infant Research Unit

• Research
• Education (undergraduate midwifery programmes,
  Masters, PhD)
• Practice development
• Capacity building NHS/university
• Policy advice national/international

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Mother and Infant Research UnitCore themes/values

• Inequalities in health public health
• Views and experiences of women and families
• Organisation of maternity services
• Community development
• Development of research methods

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Mother and Infant Research UnitMain topics

• Maternal and child nutrition
• Screening in pregnancy and postnatally
• Wellbeing before, during and after birth
  childbirth main current interest

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Maternal and Child Nutrition

• Formula feeding and early weaning increase
• diseases in infancy gastroenteritis, otitis
  media, urinary tract infection
• diseases in childhood diabetes, respiratory
  tract infections
• diseases in adulthood cardiovascular disease
• obesity
• cancer in the mother breast, ovarian.
• UK and Ireland lowest breastfeeding rates in
  Europe
• Lowest rates in low income groups

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Public Health Collaborating Centre for Maternal
and Child NutritionAddressing inequalities in
health byimproving maternal and child nutrition

• Supported by the National Institute for Health
  and Clinical Excellence

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Public Health Collaborating Centre for Maternal
and Child Nutrition

• Core groups
• Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, York
• Nutritional Epidemiology Group, Leeds
• Health Services Research Centre, Coventry
• Partners
• Academics, professional and consumer groups
• Sentinel sites
• Leeds, West Midlands, North East London

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Maternal and Child Nutrition

• Topics for current and future work
• Welfare food programmes
• report to be published 2006
• Breastfeeding
• national guidance document out for consultation
• Preventing obesity
• Formula feeding
• Weaning
• Healthy eating for pre-school children

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Mother and Infant Research Unit

• Maternal and child nutrition
• Screening in pregnancy and postnatally
• Wellbeing before, during and after birth

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Labour and birth

• Internationally major issues of maternal and
  infant mortality and morbidity
• Nationally issues include interventions in
  labour, physical, mental and emotional sequelae
  of birth and health service resource use

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Early Labour Support and Assessment trial (ELSA)

• .to compare midwifery support and assessment for
  women in their own home in early labour, versus
  standard care in hospital

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Early Labour Support and Assessment trial (ELSA)

• Collaborators
• Centre for Health Economics, York
• National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Oxford
• Centre for Research in Primary Care, Leeds
• Sheffield and Leeds NHS Teaching Hospital Trusts
  
• National Childbirth Trust
• Royal College of Midwives
• Funded by NHS RD Service Delivery and
  Organisation programme

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Early Labour Support and Assessment trial (ELSA)

• Outcomes include caesarean section and
  instrumental birth, womens wellbeing and views,
  and health service resource use
• Plan to recruit 3500 women (2500 so far)
• 6 Trusts in Yorkshire, 11 clinical sites
• Recruitment and intervention by midwives 450
  community midwives, 900 hospital midwives
  involved

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Other childbirth studies

• Long term sequelae of caesarean section
• near completion
• OPAL OPtions for Assessment and support in
  early Labour national survey of services
• complete 2006
• EMERALD proposal to examine birth centres and
  midwifery-led units

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Challenges and opportunities

• Masters in Maternal and Child Health
• Integrating education and research for staff and
  students
• Opportunities for collaboration in York eg
  Centre for Child Development and Wellbeing
• Capacity building
• Stability and productivity - funding issues

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Future plans

• New proposals
• birth centres
• postnatal depression
• practice development conduct and evaluation
• International RD
• Ongoing discussions
• International capacity building