Edinburgh University Pregnancy Research Team

07/05/2025

Sending thanks and good wishes to all midwives around the world for this year's International Day of the Midwife 🥰

🌍💙 Today on International Day of the Midwife, we celebrate the incredible dedication, care and compassion of our midwives across NHS Lothian.

Thank you for everything you do!

07/05/2025

We are seeking voluntary help from our NICU graduate parents whose babies were born at

21/04/2025

Are you looking for a new challenge? Wanting to learn more about pregnancy research and help us deliver our research projects?

Edinburgh Pregnancy Research Team is looking for 2 research midwives and 2 lab technicians to join our team at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh.

Research Midwives --> https://shorturl.at/nShx9

Lab Technicians --> https://shorturl.at/63tDM and https://shorturl.at/t8vEb

We look forward to hearing from you!

20/02/2025

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 A wee reminder... from 10th June, 2024, until further notice: All newly pregnant individuals in NHS Lothian are being **automatically included** in the 'Born in Scotland' pregnancy research study.

The 'Born in Scotland' study hopes to find out how health in pregnancy and early childhood shapes our lives.

Help our team of researchers try to answer questions like:
~ Why are some babies born too early or ill?
~ How does our time in the womb shape our health throughout our lives?

** You don't have to take part if you don't want to! **

To withdraw please click here: https://tinyurl.com/BorninScotlandwithdraw
Call 0131 242 2480
Or speak to your Community Midwife

To provide further additional consent for the research team:
~ DNA analysis consent: https://cardiovascular-science.ed.ac.uk/.../dna-consent
~ Consent to be contacted about related studies: https://cardiovascular-science.ed.ac.uk/.../consent-contact

Thank you - from the 'Born in Scotland' study team

Having A Baby In Lothian

19/02/2025

An important opportunity coming up surrounding advocacy in maternity care.

Five X More Having A Baby In Lothian KWISA -African Women In Scotland Association

01/02/2025

Congrats to the St John’s team for this!
Having A Baby In Lothian

15/01/2025

Sharing a local related event for info and Parents Centre in

"The Albany Midwifery Practice was a groundbreaking, gold standard model of midwifery care, based on the principle of relational continuity of carer. The Practice ran successfully in London for twelve and a half years before its untimely closure on grounds of ‘safety’. Becky Reed was a founder member of the Practice. Now a retired midwife, she remains determined to spread the message that the AMP model is a safe, successful and practical way of working for the future. Becky now has 13 grandchildren, and has written 2 books: 'Birth in Focus' (2016), and 'Closure' with Nadine Edwards, which was published last year and tells the story of how the AMP was 'demonised and dismantled."

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/continuity-of-midwifery-carer-the-benefits-of-relational-care-tickets-1113645586929?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwY2xjawHo6f5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYwhKdJEj3OaFukb-3ociLzkJwA2qnN4-hBl4B-nUtercdcl8Fnutq3NXA_aem_A8h8d8IHaA5SKjVvk8s7pA

Having A Baby In Lothian

From her wealth of experience, Becky Reed details the benefits of relationship-based maternity care, for both families and midwives.

22/12/2024

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 A wee reminder... from 10th June, 2024, until further notice: All newly pregnant individuals in NHS Lothian are being **automatically included** in the 'Born in Scotland' pregnancy research study.

The 'Born in Scotland' study hopes to find out how health in pregnancy and early childhood shapes our lives.

Help our team of researchers try to answer questions like:
~ Why are some babies born too early or ill?
~ How does our time in the womb shape our health throughout our lives?

** You don't have to take part if you don't want to! **

To withdraw please click here: https://tinyurl.com/BorninScotlandwithdraw
Call 0131 242 2480
Or speak to your Community Midwife

To provide further additional consent for the research team:
~ DNA analysis consent: https://cardiovascular-science.ed.ac.uk/.../dna-consent
~ Consent to be contacted about related studies: https://cardiovascular-science.ed.ac.uk/.../consent-contact

Thank you - from the 'Born in Scotland' study team

21/12/2024

❄️⛄️🌨 Cosy up and enjoy the latest issue of our pregnancy research newsletter: https://edinburgh-pregnancy-research.ed.ac.uk/newsletter-winter-2024

18/12/2024

🎁 Christmas congrats to the winner of our newsletter competition! 🎄
(only open to NHS Lothian staff)

Interested in receiving all the latest Edinburgh and Lothian pregnancy news straight to your inbox? Sign up now: https://edinburgh-pregnancy-research.ed.ac.uk/newsletter-signup


Having A Baby In Lothian

11/12/2024

Pleased to share this incredibly important piece of work - read it, then send it far and wide:

The Lothian Maternity Voices Partnership x KWISA -African Women In Scotland Association report of maternity care experiences of women of African and Caribbean heritage living in the Lothians:

- "KWISA acknowledges that birthing in Scotland is generally safe. However, women and babies of African and Caribbean heritage continue to experience significant disparities throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and after childbirth."

This report highlights the maternity care experiences of women of African and Caribbean heritage in the Lothian region. It offers recommendations informed by collective lived and professional expertise to address these longstanding disparities.

https://edinburgh-pregnancy-research.ed.ac.uk/news-events/diversity-inclusion-women-of-african-caribbean-heritage-report

NHS Borders Maternity Services West Lothian Mums Mums Across Scotland Amina Muslim Women's Resource Centre ASSAMEH – Birth & Beyond Lothian Breastfeeding Buddies Edinburgh Napier Midwifery Society Register for SHARE Edinburgh for Under Fives Giovanna Fletcher Home-Start East Lothian Held In Our Hearts Neonatal Units - Simpsons & St. Johns KWISA -African Women In Scotland Association Dr Karan Scottish Doula Network Edinburgh Live NHS Lothian Children's Services Muslim Women's Association of Edinburgh Research Midwives Scottish Women's Rights Centre Tommy's NHS Forth Valley NHS Borders Maternity Services Having A Baby In Lothian Rochelle Humes

21/11/2024

** Have you had experience of gestational (pregnancy) diabetes? **

We held our first stakeholder event today for a new project: MyGDM Scotland. The aim of this new research is to improve gestational (pregnancy) diabetes care in Scotland.

🩸 Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar (glucose) that develops during pregnancy and usually disappears after giving birth. It happens when your body cannot produce enough insulin – a hormone that helps control blood sugar levels – to meet your extra needs in pregnancy.

The study is considering looking at three ways to improve gestational diabetes care in Scotland for pregnant women and pregnant people:

1) Trialing universal screening, improved postnatal follow-up (such as postnatal home-testing of HbA1c), and interventions with digital support tools like a GDM app.

2) A pilot and roll-out of a Scotland-wide gestational diabetes audit (independent review) to improve data collection and care quality and outcomes.

3) Embed the voices of women and people who have had experience of gestational diabetes in the research process to ensure inclusion and properly inform the research's design.

Have you experienced gestational diabetes? Share your thoughts now - contact us to express your interest in joining a patient voices group: MyGDM.Scotland@ed.ac.uk
Or visit: https://edinburgh-pregnancy-research.ed.ac.uk/current-studies/mygdm-scotland


Having A Baby In Lothian