New blood test could identify women at risk of premature births

A breakthrough blood test, which has the high accuracy rate of 86 per cent, has been developed to identify women at risk of premature birth who are not displaying symptoms from as early as 18 weeks into their pregnancy. 

Aside from infant death, premature babies are at risk of cerebral palsy, brain injuries, coordination problems, vision and hearing problems, an increased risk of chronic lung disease and other problems with the guts and organ systems.

The research has been carried out by scientists from the University of Western Australia, the University of Toronto, the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary over the past eight years.

More than $5.2 million funding was granted by Albert Innovates - Health Solutions.

A lead researcher in the study, Associate Professor Craig Pennell from UWA's School of Women's and Infants' Health, said the test worked by identifying gene expression in a person's blood.

"The test basically takes a blood sample from women when they are about 18 - 20 weeks pregnant, and then we take some basic clinical information about how their pregnancy has gone," Mr Pennell told SBS.

"And then that clinical information and the blood results get put into a computer and it comes out with an answer -  which is either high risk of preterm birth or low-risk of preterm birth.

"(The test) is good at both, telling which people will deliver early, and also telling which people will deliver at term, because many of the tests that have been developed over the last few decades have been good at one or the other but not both."

The scientists tested 2000 Canadian women with low-risk pregnancies, and grouped them into preterm births and term births.

They then identified six genes out of the 21,000 that can help predict preterm birth.

Before researchers can take the blood test to the market, they need to repeat the evaluation on a new population, so in January they will start testing 3000 Australian women over a three to four year period.

Mr Pennell said the aim was to make the blood test one of the routine procedures pregnant women have, and it would allow doctors to make choices about the care and treatment of the mother-to-be.

"The biggest problem is that half of preterm births occur in women in their first pregnancy, so we don't know if it's going to happen to you," he said.

"Now we will be able to say 'ok, you are at high risk and therefore you need to be seen more regularly' and pick up problems before they start to occur. 

"If they were deemed to be high risk and people in rural areas may need to move to central locations.

"And, for people who are living in cities it would alter whether they'd be seen once a month or once a week, it would alter whether or not they were managed through preterm birth prevention clinics.

Mr Pennell said it would alter their accessibility to a series of interventions such as progesterone treatment, which is a medication, cervical cerclage, which is stitching your cervix closed, or other treatments.

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