SHAPES has found that BMI can miss half of the pregnant women who developed diabetes, and we need to find a better measure.
What is SHAPES? SHAPES stands for Study of How Adiposity in Pregnancy has an Effect on outcomeS
- The SHAPES study aims to see if different measurements can be used to identify who might benefit from additional care in pregnancy.
- Over 2 years, 1450 pregnant women had these additional measurements taken as part of their 12-week scan to see if any of them work better than BMI. We are now testing biomarkers in their blood for a more accurate measurement.
- BMI is used to identify which pregnant women might need additional care but it has has limitations because it cannot tell how much fat someone has, or where it is stored. What if something else works better than BMI in pregnancy?
“When I was pregnant, I was immediately classed as high risk because of my BMI. This had an impact on my confidence, it created anxiety and my birth options changed. This study feels really important for women like me because it could change care in pregnancy and birth.”
Katie, from a mum & baby group
Mum’s voices have been crucial throughout
- Public involvement has been a unique part of SHAPES. Groups of mums have been involved in discussions right from the research idea to planning how we share the findings.
- Mum’s voices have been crucial throughout this project to add their perspective, feedback and clarity as mums and recent users of the maternity system.
- Throughout the study, we wanted to know if this research matters to mums – it does!
“After being approached by Janine to be part of the steering group for this project, I was very happy to take part because the subject of the study was close to me, after being classed as “obese” during my pregnancy. I was keen to not only give my perspective as an overweight pregnant person, but also to see what was being proposed as an alternative to the current screening and treatment process.“
Emma, PPIE contributor
What happens next?
Over the next few weeks, the findings from SHAPES will be clearer and we will be talking to mums about what the results mean for them and identifying what difference this makes to pregnant women.
We would love to chat with you and some more mums about this study and the possibility of different measurements.
Would you be interested in find out more about the findings of SHAPES and talking to us more about it?
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Janine Smith, PPIE Lead on SHAPES
https://research.ncl.ac.uk/shapes/
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