About the SHAPES research

A pregnant woman’s Body Mass Index (also known as BMI) is used to identify which women might need extra care in pregnancy. Currently, women with a high BMI get extra care. However, BMI might not be the best measure to use and women’s body shape in early pregnancy might be better. SHAPES will explore if other measurements, such as waist size or ultrasound scans, can be used to identify which women would benefit most from extra care during pregnancy. We need 1400 women with a whole range of BMIs to take part.

A member of the clinical team at NuTH might discuss this research with you over the phone if they call to book your routine 12-week scan appointment, or in the waiting room when attending for your scan appointment. If you are interested in taking part in this research, you will receive more detailed written information about the study to read and discuss with the research team. All the extra body shape measurements will be done at your 12-weeks scan appointment, which will take about an extra 45 minutes.

As a thank you for your time, you will receive 3 photos of your baby from your 12-week scan, and you can be entered into a prize draw to win £100 shopping vouchers.

We only have a limited number of research appointments available each week, so unfortunately, we can’t offer them to everyone. This means you may not be contacted about the research. If you think you might be interested in taking part, you can contact us directly. If you do not want anyone to approach you about this research, please let us know and we won’t contact you.

Contact details

email: nuth.rhnresearch@nhs.net
phone: 0191 2820362

For more information about this study, please visit our website: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/shapes/

Yours sincerely
Raya Vinogradov, Principal Investigator for the SHAPES Study
Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust