Maternal Health and Reproductive Success (MHaRS) Forum

Project Description

We want to establish a PPI to collaborate in the next phase of our research which seeks to understand the extent to which a wide range of maternal health factors affect reproductive outcomes. Our aim is to recruit patients locally from the Hull IVF Unit and the Subfertility Clinic at the Hull Royal Infirmary to become members of a MHaRS Research Virtual steering group. We will engage with this virtual steering group on our research as it proceeds through the research cycle, from identifying research priorities through to dissemination of findings, initially over the next two years. Examples of involvement include a) contribution to the design of, and early review of our research proposals, b) reviewing the quality and standard of public materials (for example Patient Information Sheets) and 3) reviewing results from our research as it progresses. By doing this, we hope to ensure that communications of findings are relevant not only to fellow scientists, but also women trying to become pregnant.


The aim of our team’s research is to answer two important questions: 1) How do events that happen around the time of conception influence the health of offspring throughout their life? and 2) Can we do anything to reduce the impact of early life influences on lifelong health?

All humans originate from a single celled embryo, which forms when the sperm from the father fertilises the egg from the mother. After 5 days the embryo forms a blastocyst, resembling a hollow ball of about 100 cells, surrounding a fluid-filled cavity. This process usually happens in the Fallopian Tube (oviduct), which connects the ovary to the womb (uterus). By the end of these first 5 days, the blastocyst will leave the oviduct, enter the uterus and establish pregnancy. All of the cells that form the foetus, placenta, baby and adult ultimately originate from that single-celled embryo. Precise regulation of these processes is essential for the pregnancy to become established. However, disruption and deviation of these processes can have significant consequences since these events at the very start of life produce the cells that will eventually generate the baby.

Lots of evidence now suggests that events occurring prior to, and around the first 5 days of development alter critical biological processes in the early embryo. The make-up of the environment in which the first five days of development occurs is ‘sensed’ by the embryo to ensure it makes best use of the provisions available. In doing so, the early embryo adapts important molecular processes to match the environment in which it finds itself. However, we know that this environment changes in response to the mother’s health and particularly, her diet. The changes may be subtle but will be acted upon by the embryo. Some adaptations will be immediately apparent, and may include miscarriage, or lead to children born with obvious birth defects; a clear example can be seen from the administration of the drug thalidomide in early pregnancy that disrupted foetal development. However, it appears that the embryo can adapt in more subtle ways. Such adaptation, which occurs at a molecular level may increase the susceptibility to disease in later life. Such relationships are best established for cardiometabolic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes. The evidence comes from a range of approaches – from work on populations, animal models and from embryos. There is good evidence of a link between prenatal obesity, especially in the mother, and maladaptation in the embryo, foetus and offspring. Research at Hull has already made a significant contribution to this understanding (e.g. Leary et al 2015) and has recently received major international funding to drive this research forward (Sturmey PI – ESHRE).

Our team brings together local experts in developmental biology, biochemistry, clinical embryology, cell biology and applied health research. We will undertake research into the social, environmental, behavioural, biological and genetic factors with determine the outcome of reproduction from embryo to offspring and the impact on maternal health and wellbeing throughout pregnancy and beyond. Importantly, our research will inform strategies for optimising clinical outcomes for the local population attempting to conceive. Key to this is involving local patients to ensure that research remains relevant to women who are trying to become pregnant.