Give the gift of happy families this year by supporting the
Wellbeing of Women Baby Bio Bank.

You could help transform families’ lives by supporting an internationally unique and crucial research project, called the Baby Bio Bank, that seeks to solve the four main complications of pregnancy. By supporting the Baby Bio Bank thousands more families will receive the gift of a healthy baby.

For simply £500 you could purchase a piece of the Baby Bio Bank Wall puzzle and receive a unique certificate thanking you for making new life possible.

Why is the Baby Bio Bank needed?

The Baby Bio Bank is dedicated to solving the four main complications of pregnancy:

• Recurrent miscarriage, the loss of 3 or more consecutive pregnancies, which places a very high emotional toll on families
• Fetal growth restriction, which accounts for 50% of all stillbirths.
• Pre-eclampsia, a form of very high blood pressure which can lead to the death of the mum and baby during pregnancy
• Preterm birth, which affects 30,000 babies in the UK annually

These complications mean 82,000 UK pregnancies a year do not end in the birth of a healthy baby, causing untold sadness to those affected. Every hour across Britain, one of life’s happiest moments is turned into tragedy for nine more families. We believe that this project will enable us to answer the question asked by many families whose pregnancy does not go smoothly – “Why me?”. New research shows that these complications, long thought to be unrelated, could actually be connected.

For the first time, medical history and blood samples will be taken from both parents. Parents will be enrolled early on in the pregnancy and tracked until their baby is born. Samples will then be taken from the placenta and umbilical cord and stored in the Baby Bio Bank at University College London and St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. At the heart of the project will be a team of midwives, who will encourage parents to take part and collect their samples.

The Baby Bio Bank will achieve:

• The possibility of screening to determine those most at risk of pregnancy complications
• Direction of scarce NHS resources towards those most at risk
• Better screening and improved care and treatment for women at risk of complications at every stage of pregnancy
• More successful, healthy pregnancies and more healthy babies and happy families
• A global research bank for complications of pregnancy, accessible by UK researchers and their international counterparts

Do we need more research into these complications in pregnancy and women’s health?

In the UK alone:

• Half of all women will experience a reproductive or gynaecological problem in their lifetime
• 17 babies a day die at or shortly after birth
• Premature Birth accounts for 80% of neo natal deaths and affects 30,000 babies every year
• Around 3,000 babies are still born every year
• Around 200,000 pregnancies end in miscarriage every year

Wellbeing of Women