Understanding the link between birth defects and preterm birth
Research institute:
UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health,
LondonProject dates:
Grant Awarded: 7 Jan 2025
Funding awarded:
Grant Amount (Borne’s share): £119,994
Total Award: £239,987
Babies born with birth defects are also more likely to be born preterm – but we don’t know why this is. Prof Andrew Copp and his team hope to provide some answers in this project funded by Borne. This could eventually lead to new ways to predict and prevent preterm birth in babies with birth defects.
The challenge
About 3% of all babies are born with birth defects, such as spina bifida or limb malformations. These can severely affect a child’s health throughout life. It’s also known that babies with birth defects are more likely to be born preterm – but we don’t understand why this happens.
Pregnant women are advised to take folic acid during pregnancy to reduce the chances of birth defects such as spina bifida. Research has also found that folic acid can reduce chances of preterm birth. But we don’t know if that is because of its effects of reducing birth defects, or for another reason.
We need to better understand the link between birth defects and preterm birth, so that we can prevent all babies from being born too soon.
The project
In this project, Prof Andrew Copp and his colleagues are studying the link between birth defects, folic acid, and preterm birth. They are using a special breed of mice that are prone to giving birth to pups with birth defects. Prof Copp has shown in previous research that, like humans, these mice may be more likely to give birth prematurely.
In blood samples taken from the pregnant mice, Prof Copp is trying to find molecules that could be measured to help assess risk of preterm birth. They are also testing whether changing folic acid consumption affects the risk of preterm birth in these mice.
What difference will this project make?
Prof Andrew Copp’s research is providing clues about why birth defects increase the chances of preterm birth. This could shed light on the causes of preterm birth in babies without birth defects too. The research could also find out whether folic acid could help to reduce preterm birth generally.
This research could one day help predict and prevent preterm birth in babies with birth defects, and help improve their chances of a healthy life.
Determining which factors lead to prematurity when a fetus has a birth defect might provide insight into the causes of premature birth more generally. For example, molecules that we discover to differ in this study can serve as ‘biomarkers’ to indicate when a human pregnancy is at special risk of preterm birth. Our work can also show whether improving folate nutrition is important in helping to reduce prematurity.
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This project is jointly funded by Borne and Action Medical Research
