POPS - Pregnancy Outcome Prediction Study

Being able to accurately identify which babies are at the highest risk of stillbirth or neonatal death means that treatments can be better targeted and families whose pregnancies are healthy can be reassured.

How well a baby is growing gives an idea of how healthy they are. Some babies are not able to grow as expected during pregnancy due to problems with the placenta. Unfortunately, for these babies it can mean they are more likely to die during pregnancy or around the time of birth or may experience complications. The POPS study set out to see if having additional ultrasound scans in the final part of pregnancy could help identify babies who are smaller than expected and to see if there are any scan or Doppler measurements that are more common in babies or are stillborn or born unwell. Researchers found that ultrasound scans can help identify babies who are small, but some still died after a reassuring scan.

Sands is currently supporting the POPS2 follow-on study to see if combining blood tests with ultrasound scans can give clearer, more accurate information.

Find out more about what we do and our plans for the future in our research strategy.