Like many others, the ConcePTION project had to cancel all face-to-face events this year and move online. This week we discuss our progress at the ConcePTION virtual general assembly. We look forward to two full days of progress reporting and constructive discussion. We are beginning to answer the question of how we can move beyond pregnancy registries to better understand disease-related pregnancy outcomes, medication use medicine safety in pregnancy. We also celebrate steps in the establishment of a non-commercial, Europe-wide breast milk biobank and platform to analyse samples. And a lot more! Want to know more? Join us at #ConcePTIONvirtual2020 on Twitter on 21-22 October!

On Wednesday, we discuss the scientific work packages, and how ConcePTION is:

• Moving beyond pregnancy registries to enhance our understanding of disease-related pregnancy outcomes, medication use and safety of use during pregnancy,
• Enhancing safety data collection in pregnancy and the analysis of case reports;
• Determining drug transfer and infant drug exposure during lactation: generation of quantitative and translatable data;
• Establishing a non-commercial, Europe-wide breast milk biobank and analytical centre;
• Dissemination and education for health care professionals, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the general public;
• Information and data governance, ethics, technology and data catalogue and quality support?

On Thursday, the consortium will discuss how ConcePTION can contribute, how we become sustainable, and how we should communicate our results. We look forward to sharing results with you soon!

It has been well-documented that a positive pregnancy experience also has a positive impact later in life in terms of health outcomes for the mother and baby, as well as a discernible positive economic impact; research has shown that in countries with low rates of maternal and child mortality, their GDP is proportionately higher. But women with untreated medical conditions might not have a positive pregnancy experience. And women who are treated without knowing what the risks are might suffer from anxiety. And this might affect their decisions on whether or not to breastfeed. One implication of this is that women with chronic illnesses, or who get sick while pregnant, need medical treatment.

This year the Safe Motherhood Week is also supporting the important topic of pregnancy/breastfeeding and medicine through the IMI ConcePTION project. The Synergist are a part of this landmark public-private partnership that is aiming to radically and rapidly reduce uncertainty about the effects of medication used during pregnancy and breastfeeding to benefit women in making informed decisions about medications used before, during and after pregnancy.

“A vast information gap exists for many women and HCPs who don’t even realise that for the vast majority of medicines, we are lacking the requisite safety data and evidence to ensure it can be safely taken during pregnancy and breastfeeding. SMW represents a unique opportunity to raise awareness of this topic and the survey will also support IMI ConcePTION’s work to build an online knowledge bank of searchable information about the safety of different medicines during pregnancy and breastfeeding, by understanding how women are using the internet to search for information, and how these habits might be changing post Covid-19” says Helena Harnik.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Safe Motherhood Week encourages all pregnant women and health care professionals to take the survey and explain why.

Read Helena Harnik’s full text on the Motherhood Collective Impact Programme blog https://motherhoodcollectiveimpact.org/safe-motherhood-week-2020-join-us-in-celebrating-nurses-and-midwives-as-we-continue-our-efforts-to-ensure-every-woman-has-a-positive-pregnancy-experience/

This week is Maternal Mental Health Awareness week, highlighting an important issue for all and new mothers. Worldwide at least 1 in every 10 pregnant women experience a mental health disorder, including depression and anxiety. Many of these women will need treatment with medicines. 

There is often uncertainty surrounding medicine use in pregnancy. Ideally, pregnant women who may need to take medicines will be able to discuss with their doctor any potential positive or negative effects on both the woman and baby. This should be weighed-up against the effects on the mother’s and baby’s health of not using the medicine, or reducing the dose. The woman and her doctor can then decide together what is right for her. In order for doctors and women to be fully informed about any potential risks, up-to-date safety data on drug use in pregnancy is required.

You could start today, by visiting the ‘Best Use of Medicines in Pregnancy’ website, where you can record details of any previous or current  pregnancies: www.medicinesinpregnancy.org/Login/. This kind of voluntary pharmacovigilance is a way in which all women can really improve the quality of data available and make sure there is more accurate and useful information for pregnant women in the future.

Thank you!

By Sally Stephens, the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and UK Teratology Information Service