Breaking news from Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research at the University of Warwick is that a drug designed to tackle diabetes could also be re-purposed as the first treatment to prevent miscarriage by targeting the lining of the womb. Previous research found that women who experience recurrent miscarriages do not have enough stem cells… Continue reading Diabetes drug could be key to helping recurrent miscarriage
I took progesterone during and in preparation for both my successful pregnancies. It was hard to get prescribed, and often dismissed by doctors as ineffective. So I was really pleased to see that the PRISM research trial in partnership with Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research has finally provided clear evidence as to the benefits… Continue reading PRISM trial proves progesterone does work
Better late than never is the second part of my round-up of IVF news: New TAC-seq method A new molecular engineering method called TAC-seq (Targeted Allele Counting by sequencing) has been developed by researchers in Finland, Estonia and Sweden. It is hoped it will be introduced into the healthcare system this year in the form… Continue reading Blog series post #4: the next steps for IVF Part 2
As well as breakthroughs in miscarriage research, which I talked about in last week’s post, there has been constant progress in the field of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). It has been over 40 years since the first ‘test-tube’ baby, born in the same year as me and, since then, over 1.1 million IVF treatment cycles… Continue reading Blog series post #3: the next steps for IVF Part 1
An important message has been discussed this week as newly-released research has prompted a #SleepOnSide campaign by Tommy’s that advises women to go to sleep on their side during the third trimester of pregnancy to reduce the risk of stillbirth. Having had early losses, I can’t imagine the pain of stillbirth, and there are some… Continue reading Tommy’s #SleepOnSide campaign
Breaking the silence around miscarriage is a tough thing to do, and one of the problems is that many people feel awkward talking about the subject of loss with those that have experienced it, or are going through it, for fear of saying the wrong thing and feeling uncomfortable. It can also be hard for… Continue reading Saying the right thing
I had a small bleed last week, which freaked me out a bit. This was at the same time as having a hacking cough that kept me awake all night and ended up with me coughing up blood as well as having a four-year-old with gastroenteritis. Yeah! I rang the maternity unit and they asked… Continue reading Checks and keeping measured
I’d never heard about placenta donation until about a year ago when I saw someone on TV discussing it. I had no idea that the cord blood of the placenta is one of the richest sources of stem cells and every day it is routinely thrown away in the UK. It can be used to… Continue reading Saving lives with placenta donation
My Beautiful Diary of the Amazingly Mundane 