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Maternal and Perinatal Health

Maternal and Perinatal Health

Title:

Lorem Ipsum

PI/Co-ordinator:

Lorem Ipsum

Research Description:

Improving maternal and infant mortality are key priorities in Kenya and internationally. The Kilifi Perinatal and Maternal Research Project (KIPMAT) aims to determine the burden and risk factors for adverse maternal and newborn outcomes in Kilifi County (LINK www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01757028 ).  We are assessing the effects of HIV, maternal nutrition, malaria infection, bacterial infection, anaemia and other risk factors on maternal and infant morbidity and mortality.  Longer term morbidity and survival of mothers and infants, and the later consequences to children’s health will be monitored through the KHDSS. 
The outputs will enable better definition of maternal morbidity and adverse events in pregnancy and the perinatal period to guide interventions a as a baseline as we move forward into studies of maternal vaccines to prevent serious infections in infancy. KIPMAT provides a platform for studies of Group B Streptococcus (LINK) and determinants of foetal growth and prematurity through participation in the Interbio-21st study https://www.interbio21.org.uk/  We use a Maternal Admission Record (MAR) for medical records that serves as a reminder on key clinical features for providing care. It has been developed iteratively over the last 4 years, adjusted to take into account its use during the normal workflow and to achieve accuracy in the data. 

The clinical and molecular epidemiology of Group B Streptococcus 
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) causes life-threatening infection in the first few days of life.  Robust data on how common maternal GBS carriage is in Africa and its association with adverse events for babies are lacking. We gathered data and samples from three sites: Kilifi County Hospital; Coast Provincial General Hospital, Mombasa; and rural health clinics in Kilifi County. GBS isolates from maternal colonisation will be typed by sequencing, and these isolates are being compared to existing archived neonatal isolates from investigation of neonatal sepsis in Kilifi County Hospital.  This study will inform the use of future GBS vaccines in sSA. 

Investigators :

Jay Berkley, Anna Seale