Since becoming a member of the BABI network in July 2022, the Leeds maternity team have recruited 2,979 mothers’ and 2,123 babies to be part of this nationwide research project.
BaBi is a network of birth cohort studies that link together anonymous data across health, education, and social care to create a picture of families’ lives over time. This means that with consent from pregnant women, routine data recorded by the services they access themselves or for their babies is joined together.
Mr Nigel Simpson, Principal Investigator for BaBi Leeds and Consultant Obstetrician at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I’m delighted that the BaBi project in Leeds is growing and so many women and families have chosen to be part of this research. This important national programme will support child health services for future generations.
“Having 5,000 participants means that we can explore more links between different pieces of data and gain an understanding of health across a large group of people. We look forward to sharing more as the study progresses and would encourage anyone who is pregnant and interested in being part of this research to get in touch.”
The BaBi network will help to create a bigger picture of local people’s health, for research purposes. By looking for patterns in the data, the research can give valuable insights into what works well and what can be made better, helping to improve health and care services for the future.
Routine recorded data includes lots of different things, including blood pressure measurements from when a woman sees her midwife, or the details of baby’s height and weight recorded by health visitors. Midwives in Leeds invite women to sign up at their routine antenatal appointments or at any time during pregnancy up to their final postnatal midwife check.
Willow, who was born at St James’s Hospital weighing 8lbs 6oz (3.82kg), is the 5,000th participant and one of the children taking part in the study.
Her mother, Jenni, who is a health visitor said: “I’m really proud that Willow is the 5,000th baby to be part of the study. It was easy to sign up and I hope that sharing this anonymous data will help to improve resources and healthcare for the future.”
Willow is Jenni’s fourth baby and joins siblings Paige (19), who was at the birth and cut the cord, Oliver (15), and Archie (3).
Proud dad Kevin said: “It’s great that Willow is playing her own small part in the BaBi Leeds research study and I hope it will make a difference to the care of babies and families in years to come. It will be really interesting to hear about the findings of the study and what this will mean for the people of Leeds.”
The concept began in Bradford, where it is part of the world-leading Born in Bradford research programme. Data from the study has influenced bus route diversions in areas where pollution and childhood asthma were high and increased green spaces across the city. It is hoped that data from the Leeds study will be used by researchers to support similar improvements across the city.
The study is continuing to expand nationally, with several areas now set up. In Yorkshire this includes Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, Doncaster, Hull, Harrogate, Scarborough and York. A total of 42,781 participants have signed up to BaBi across the country.
Find out more about the BaBi Leeds study