Helping to Improve Maternal
and Infant Health Outcomes
Through Education & Research
Public Health Starts with Pregnancy Research
MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies is a research program seeking to understand how certain medications, vaccines, or health conditions may affect pregnancy. Our observational research will help people who are pregnant and the health providers who treat them better understand the effects of these exposures in pregnancy. Our studies are observational: participation is completed over the phone and we will never ask a participant to change anything about their current health routine, including their medications.
Share Our Studies with Pregnant Individuals
Public health officials have a very important role to play in sharing MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies. All participation is done at home by phone or email. Learn more about the participation process and share our enrollment form with your community.
Share with a Colleague
Tell a colleague about MotherToBaby’s services, resources, and research. Help us strengthen our network and make our studies more robust by enrolling diverse groups!
How Our Studies Work
Parent-To-Be Enrolls in Study
We Gather Info about the Pregnancy
Discoveries & Insights Gained
What’s Involved?
Participants complete 1-3 phone interviews during pregnancy and at least 1 interview after delivery. People are also asked to release the medical records for their pregnancy and for their baby. We use these records to capture information about a person’s health as the pregnancy progresses and the health of their baby after delivery. After baby is born, we follow the health of the baby for a period of time to collect information about their growth and development. Finally, some studies offer an in-home or telemedicine pediatric exam and/or neurodevelopmental assessments that can also provide insight into the child’s development.
Why Us?
MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies has over 20 years of experience working with pregnant people and new parents to follow their health during pregnancy and the health of their baby after they deliver. Our studies are strongly designed so we can gather the information needed to determine if a particular medication or vaccine has any effects when it has to be taken during pregnancy.
What are the Benefits of Participating?
People who participate in our studies have access to our specialists to answer any questions they might have about exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Certain studies offer a free infant exam by one of our pediatric specialists, and others may offer assessments of your child’s development. The exams and developmental assessments may offer you reassurance about your child’s growth and could offer important information to discuss with your pediatrician. The results of our studies are published in medical journals and included in medication labels, and can be used by health providers, you, and others like you when navigating treatment decisions in pregnancy. Finally, our participants also have the satisfaction and pride that comes from helping improve the health of future parents and babies.
Why Is It Important to Participate?
Many people may have to take a medication or get a vaccine to manage their health while they are pregnant. Everyone deserves to have information about any potential risks of the product when used during pregnancy, and we can only gather that information if we have a diverse group of people who are pregnant who participate in our studies. All of our studies are observational: we will never ask a participant to take or change any aspect of their current healthcare routine. We simply observe their pregnancy and their baby for a period of time after birth.
Some people may ask: “But I’m not taking the medication or getting the vaccine you’re studying – so why should I participate?” Individuals who have not taken the drug of interest are critically important to our studies because they can serve in our comparison groups. In most of our studies, we enroll people into two different comparison groups: a group that has the underlying health condition and a second group of people without an underlying health condition. We can then compare the pregnancies of people in the comparison groups to the pregnancies of people exposed to the medication/vaccine of interest; this helps us determine if the medication/vaccine increases risks compared to unexposed pregnancies. If we didn’t have people participating in these comparison groups, we could never be sure if our findings were actually due to the medication/vaccine exposure itself.
Overview Video: What is MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies?
Watch this quick two-minute video to learn about our MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies research program that is seeking to understand how certain medications, vaccines, or health conditions may affect pregnancy.
Questions?
We have answers! We’re open Monday – Friday from 7am-7pm Pacific, excluding public holidays. To connect with our research team, please contact us at
Phone | 877.311.8972
Email | mothertobaby@health.ucsd.edu
You can also visit our Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about participating in our studies.
Connect with Us
Follow us on social media.
You can also stay in touch by subscribing to our e-news.
Join a Study
People who are pregnant and/or breastfeeding deserve better information about medication safety – and you can help by participating in a study.
|
Questions? Call 866.626.6847 | Text 855.999.3525 | Email or Chat at MotherToBaby.org. Disclaimer: MotherToBaby Fact Sheets are meant for general information purposes and should not replace the advice of your health care provider. MotherToBaby is a service of the non-profit Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS). OTIS/MotherToBaby encourages inclusive and person-centered language. While our name still contains a reference to mothers, we are updating our resources with more inclusive terms. Use of the term mother or maternal refers to a person who is pregnant. Use of the term father or paternal refers to a person who contributes sperm. Copyright by OTIS, October 31, 2022. |