Premature birth linked to nutrition in early pregnancy

An important breakthrough in unravelling the causes of premature birth has been made by Liggins Institute researchers - and their findings are reported internationally in the leading journal Science (25 April 2003).

Dr Frank Bloomfield and his colleagues report that in experimental work, inadequate nutrition of mothers around the time of conception led to preterm birth in half of the subjects. This is the first time that a connection between events in early pregnancy and prematurity has been uncovered.

"Our findings - if proven to be applicable to human pregnancy - indicate that focusing on events around the time of conception could hold one of the keys to the prevention of preterm birth," said Dr Bloomfield, principal author of the Science article.

"The search for the causes of preterm labour is something of an holy grail among researchers because prematurity is so common and can be devastating," said Liggins Institute Director Professor Peter Gluckman. "It affects seven per cent of babies in New Zealand, and eleven per cent in the United States - and its incidence is increasing in the western world.

"It is the most common cause of death amongst newborns. Survivors are at high risk of conditions including cerebral palsy and intellectual deficits."

Liggins Associate Director Professor Jane Harding, who led the research team, said the findings add a crucial layer of understanding about the links between fetal development and maternal nutrition.

"A newly fertilised egg needs little nutrition. But it is now emerging that the early embryo receives signals from the mother about her nutritional and hormone status, and that these signals may play a role in fetal growth, maturation and the timing of birth, said Professor Harding.

Nearly two decades ago, it was shown that womb infections are a major cause of preterm labour, a finding made in large part by Liggins Research Director Professor Murray Mitchell.

The Liggins Institute is a multidisciplinary medical research institute within The University of Auckland. It is committed to biomedical and clinical research of an international standard, and its areas of focus are pregnancy and labour; the fetus and the newborn; brain and behaviour; and growth, development and ageing.