New project on maternal and infant morbidity

‘Impact of maternal and infant morbidity on secretory activation’, a DPhil collaborative project with Bryony Davies is looking at how difficult pregnancies might impact the hormones in lactation.

The start of lactation after childbirth is known as ‘secretory activation’ and is hormonally controlled. A delay in secretory activation is linked to excess infant weight loss, increased use of formula milk and early stopping of breastfeeding.

The mechanisms mediating secretory activation in healthy, term pregnancy are poorly understood, and even less is known about how maternal and fetal morbidity disrupt this process. This project will address biological mechanisms underlying delayed secretory activation in women with preterm, low birthweight and small-for-gestational-age infants.

The study

The term ‘small vulnerable newborn’ (SVNs) describes any baby that is born premature, low birthweight or small for its gestational age. More than 25% of all newborns worldwide fall under this category. Mothers with SVNs are at increased risk of delayed secretory activation and breastfeeding issues. This project aims to identify the mechanisms underlying this delay in secretory activation, with a particular focus on maternal hormones.

Our ongoing INSIGHT study investigates lactation hormone levels in healthy, term pregnancies, and aims to understand the effects of hormones on mammary gene expression, metabolism and milk composition in the early postpartum period. In collaboration with the Prof. Lars Bode, LRF MOMI CORE, University of California San Diego, this new project will extend the scope of INSIGHT to advance knowledge about the biology of delayed secretory activation with a particular focus on SVNs.