Lumen Summer 2018 - Flipbook - Page 36
P
rofessor Claire Roberts is an
incredible woman with seemingly
indestructible optimism and an
immense love for her family.
But the alumna leading the fight against
pregnancy complications has a heartbreaking
story of unimaginable loss.
Five days after giving birth to her son in the
summer of 1983, Claire lost her baby after it
was discovered his heart effectively had no left
ventricle.
“It was very traumatic, complicated by the
fact we lived on a farm and the next day was
February 16 which was Ash Wednesday and
our farm was burnt out. There was more to
come, we had a terrible year,” she said.
Despite this harrowing time, Claire showed
immense resilience and went on to have two
daughters, Annie and Kelly, completed her
Science Degree with Honours, obtained a PhD
and then moved into obstetrics where she has
become one of the country’s leading pregnancy
and birth researchers.
As Deputy Director of the Robinson Research
Institute, which is internationally recognised
for excellence in fertility, pregnancy and child
health research, Claire has made discoveries
that have gained worldwide media attention.
And there will be more attention to come.
Claire and her team have developed a world
first test to determine which women are at risk
of preeclampsia, a life threatening condition
where abnormally high blood pressure and
other serious complications develop during
pregnancy.
The test can also identify women at risk of
gestational diabetes, spontaneous pre-term birth
and intrauterine growth restriction.
“Our screening tools, or algorithms, can predict
risk for these four complications with a blood
test and simple questions at 12 weeks of
gestation,” said Claire.
“We’ve been able to validate these algorithms in
the first 500 women in our Screening Tests to
Predict Poor Outcomes of Pregnancy (STOP)
study which is very exciting.”
With the Hospital Research Foundation’s
support, the test will soon be trialled for one
year in the Lyell McEwin Hospital which has
the highest rate of preeclampsia of any urban
hospital in Australia.
“Having an algorithm to predict risk in
pregnancy allows early intervention.
For example, it’s been shown that if you start a
34
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
ABOVE
Professor Claire
Roberts with
daughter Kelly and
grandchildren
“It’s important to
empower women to actually
take control of their health
while they’re still young.”
low dose aspirin every day before 16 weeks’
gestation, you can prevent early onset
preeclampsia,” said Claire.
“There are also other interventions for the
other pregnancy complications, so the idea is
if you intervene and provide early treatment,
you’ll either prevent the condition altogether or
ameliorate the severity.
“We hope to get our screening tools into clinical
practice very soon to identify women early in
pregnancy who are at risk, then prevent the
complications that will impact their health and
the health of their babies.”
Claire highlights the fact that health in
pregnancy foreshadows future health and
believes it’s important to educate couples about
