RWT recruits UK’s first patient in new trial
Date of release: 17 December 2024
Wolverhampton has recruited the first patient in the UK to a new trial investigating the prevention of anaemia in pregnancy.
From left: Research Midwives Evia Hunt, Julia Icke and Ellmina McKenzie, and Prof. David Churchill
The Primary prevention of maternal ANaemia to Avoid preterm Delivery and other Adverse outcomes (PANDA) Prevention, aims to recruit 11,020 women.
The aim of PANDA, a programme which has been running for four years, is to see if by preventing anaemia, babies can be prevented from being born too small and too early and to stop some stillbirths.
PANDA Prevention is the main trial of the programme and it aims to understand the real effects of giving low-dose iron supplements during pregnancy to prevent anaemia and its harmful complications.
Women who participate in the trial will be randomly allocated to receive either iron (ferrous sulphate) tablets or a placebo during their pregnancy and up to six weeks after childbirth.
Previously, a national pilot in 2022 to find the best dose of iron to test in pregnancy was started at New Cross Hospital, part of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT).
This was successful in showing that a daily iron tablet was the best dose to prevent anaemia.
But this did not show if the outcomes of stillbirth, premature birth and small babies could be stopped. This is why PANDA Prevention – a much larger trial – is so important.
Women joining will receive their Maternity care as normal and if anaemia develops, it will be treated according to the national guidelines.
The trial is designed to discover if the treatment is effective and 100 per cent safe.
Ellmina McKenzie, Research Midwife at RWT and National Lead Midwife for the trial: “It is great that we are taking part in this trial because we know anaemia can lead to increased risks for both mother and baby during pregnancy and childbirth.
“Research in this area is crucial in helping us to improve the care and outcomes for women and their babies.
“We will use the tool developed in the dose-finding pilot to support women to take the tablets.
“This will give us the best possible chance of testing whether oral iron supplements work to prevent anaemia and the bad obstetric outcomes.”
Principle Investigator Professor David Churchill is National Obstetrics Lead for the programme and Consultant Obstetrician (Maternal & Fetal Medicine) at RWT and Professor of Obstetrics at the University of Wolverhampton.
He said: “This is a major trial of simple intervention that, if it works, will change practice across the whole country.
“RWT’s Maternity Unit and its research team have been leading the way right from the start. There hasn’t been a trial of this scale in Maternity care for many years and we are so grateful to all the women who choose to join the trial.
“Their selfless act could transform maternity care in the future.”
The patient recruited for the trial wishes to remain anonymous.
More information is available on the trial, which is NIHR funded, here: PANDA – Clinical Trials Unit – NHS Blood and Transplant
ENDS
- For further information, please call Tim Nash on 07714 741097 or email tim.nash2@nhs.net
