Sweden has a well-functioning maternal health care and childbirth care system, and is one of the countries with the lowest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world. However, there are still conditions during pregnancy and childbirth that pose serious risks to both mother and child, where increased knowledge about these conditions could further improve care. This mainly concerns complications during pregnancy related to placental function (such as preeclampsia, foetal growth restriction, and preterm birth). With new research methods (analysis of blood samples and genetic analyses), we may find markers that can help us to earlier identify pregnancies that require increased monitoring. Another area where knowledge can be improved is how pregnant women metabolise drugs and how these pass through the placenta to the child. With the help of blood samples where the presence of a drug in the blood is determined and genetic analyses are performed, we may in the future be able to provide safer drug dosing to pregnant women. There is also a need for increased knowledge about the underlying factors of complications during childbirth, such as uterine inertia and related oxytocin treatment, to ultimately optimise the care of women in obstetric care.
In collaboration between the Women's Clinic in Linköping, Linköping University Hospital, and the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), Division of Inflammation and Infection (II), LiU, a biobank has been created with blood samples from 8,000 pregnant women who agreed to participate at the time of registration at the maternal health care in Linköping.
The collection of blood samples took place between 2011-2019, and blood samples were taken in pregnancy weeks 12-14, in pregnancy weeks 25-29, and blood from the umbilical cord at the time of delivery. From 2014, samples were also taken from the mother at the time of delivery.
The blood samples are divided into the following aliquots: whole blood, serum, and plasma – please see an overview of the samples below.
If you have a research question that could be answered using samples from the Biobank, you are welcome to contact sara.carlhall@liu.se and then submit an application together with a project plan and an approved application from the ethics review authority to the Biobank's steering group.
