Thanks to your donations, Leeds Hospitals Charity is supporting a ground-breaking research study for mums-to-be in the city.

The ‘Born and Bred in’ (BaBi) Leeds project involves midwives asking pregnant women in Leeds to consent to become part of BaBi Leeds and aims to get 800 women on board by July 2023.

So far, there have been 743 women and 343 babies recruited, and their input means health researchers can join together health information so that they can build up a much clearer picture of people’s lives and look at ways to improve inequalities, health and care through research and planning of services in Leeds.

Karen Elston, BaBi Leeds Midwife said:

“I am very passionate about driving recruitment to BaBi Leeds, and that this should include and represent our significant ethnic minority population. I enjoy working with the team to develop strategies for promoting BaBi in all parts of the community and growing the study to provide the evidence needed to make real change.”

Over £60,000 of funding from the charity has been used to recruit a dedicated research midwife, Jane Gavin, for the project, as well as fund development to the electronic systems that will be used to store the patient data.

Jane told us:

“I enjoy the new challenges this study brings - promoting the study within our communities and linking with other professionals. There is a lot of potential to think ‘outside the box’ when developing the network for Babi Leeds. I look forward to seeing where this study will go to change and improve the health and wellbeing of people in Leeds.”

The study is still looking for pregnant women to take part in BaBi Leeds, you can find out more and contact the team at www.leedsth.nhs.uk/a-z-of-services/leeds-maternity-care/research/babi-leeds/

You can watch this short video to find out more about how the study works  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlXJCZRP2Ek