Queen's University Belfast

Academic Institute

Medical Research Council [Internal grant ID: MR/V005243/1]

Yes

E092

Multimorbidity is when a person has two or more long-term health problems. Multimorbidity is becoming more common in pregnancy. However, we don't understand why this is and what the consequences are for the pregnancy, the birth of the baby and the mother and baby’s health in the long-term. The MuM-PreDiCT UK Consortium is a collaboration between all four UK nations and is investigating the prevalence and determinants of long-term conditions, how conditions cluster together and evolve over time, and how certain clusters affect the outcomes of the pregnancy, and future health and wellbeing of mothers and infants. The group is also investigating prevalence of medications, and combinations of medications (polypharmacy) around the time of pregnancy in women with and without multimorbidity, and will also study the impact that these medications have on outcomes of the pregnancy, and future health and wellbeing of mothers and infants. This application is an extension to a previous MuM-PreDiCT study (E062) and seeks to expand on the outcomes under investigation. Since the initial application, the UK consortium has completed an extensive selection and prioritisation exercise to identify outcomes of pregnancy that are most important to other researchers, health professionals, parents and children. This involved conducting a series of literature reviews and patient and public engagement activities to identify potential outcomes of interest, followed by a Delphi process to prioritise the outcomes and select a “core set” for any research involving multimorbidity in pregnancy. The proposed application expands the datasets and variables requested to include those identified in the core outcome set. These studies will give healthcare professionals and parents a much better understanding of having two or more health conditions in pregnancy. Through this enhanced understanding, they will be able to plan and design services that meet the needs of women and their families before, during and after pregnancy.

These studies will give healthcare professionals and parents a much better understanding of having two or more health conditions in pregnancy. Through this enhanced understanding, they will be able to plan and design services that meet the needs of women and their families before, during and after pregnancy.

03/11/2023

TRE