The Pregnancy Biorepository Seeking Participants

Overview

Globally, there are more than 295,000 maternal deaths annually.  Furthermore, premature birth complicates 15 million births per year, resulting in more than 1 million neonatal deaths and lifelong consequences for surviving neonates.  The University of Washington is actively involved in cutting edge research to reduce this burden.  The intent of a Biorepository is to facilitate this research by providing biologic samples from pregnant patients with both normal pregnancy and abnormal pregnancy outcomes.  The Biorepository provides for uniform sample collection, meeting the needs of multiple investigators and allowing for shared samples, minimizes the need to contact patients repeatedly for individual studies, and creates a bank of biologic samples for future studies.

What is the study?

The study collects maternal blood and urine at various time points during pregnancy and blood, cord blood, and placental biopsies at the time of delivery.  Information about the pregnancy and its outcome will also be collected after birth.  All information will be de-identified so that participants cannot be individually identified.  These samples will be used by investigators at the University of Washington to study both normal and high-risk pregnancies to identify biomarkers that an identify women at risk before the onset of symptoms, and potentially allow early treatment or prevention.

What is the goal of the study?

The intent of the Biorepository is to create a bank of biologic samples obtained during pregnancy to facilitate research into normal and high-risk pregnancies.

Are you eligible?

We are asking all pregnant women to participate.  The only exclusion criteria is  pregnancies with major fetal anomalies (birth defects).  Whether or choose to participate or not, your pregnancy care at UWMC will not be affected.

What to expect?

If you choose to participate, we will obtain blood and urine samples during each trimester of your pregnancy.  These collections, whenever possible, will be obtained during regularly scheduled visits and blood draws (typically at 12-16 weeks and at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy) and maternal blood, cord blood, and placental biopsies at the time of delivery.  All patient information will be de-identified prior to its use.

Who do I contact?

If you would like more information, please contact us by phone at 206-822-9702 or by email at pregnancy-studies@uw.edu

How is this project funded?

These projects are funded from a variety of sources including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and various other granting agencies and philanthropy