Fancy helping with research? Probiotics in pregnancy

The University of Otago, Wellington is conducting a study on probiotics use in pregnancy.

The research team want to find out if by giving pregnant women a specific probiotic, they can:
– Stop infants developing eczema and allergy
– Help pregnant women’s health by preventing:
– Some vaginal infections
– A type of diabetes that occurs only in pregnancy (gestational diabetes)
If you’re interested in helping, they need to hear from you as early in pregnancy as possible, and this must be before reaching 16 weeks pregnant.

Personally, I think probiotics in pregnancy works! On the suggestion of one of the researchers taking part in this study, I took probiotics for as long as I could during the pregnancy of my second child, and she does not have the same eczema issues as my first daughter.

What does the study involve?
Study Capsules:
Participants in this study need to take one study capsule each day starting when 14-16 weeks pregnant and continuing throughout the remainder of their pregnancy and for 6 months after birth while breast feeding.
Half the participants will take study capsules containing the study probiotic. They contain one specific probiotic strain which is not genetically modified and was produced in a Halal compliant manner.
The other half of the participants will receive study capsules that do not contain probiotics. These capsules are called a “placebo”. The placebo capsules contain Maltodextran only instead of the probiotic.
Neither you nor the researchers know who is having the probiotic capsules and who is having the placebo until after the study is completed.
After birth the baby would not receive the study capsules.

Study Visits:
Participants will take part in 5-6 study visits starting when they are 14-16 weeks pregnant and finishing when their baby is 1 year old.
Study visits involve a range of questions and measures including one set of blood tests and two sets of vaginal swabs during pregnancy. We will also be testing participants, their baby and the baby’s father for allergies and checking your baby’s skin for eczema.
We will provide parking and petrol vouchers when participants need to travel to attend study visits. Home visits will be arranged for some parts of the study (e.g. just after birth).

Who can take part in this study?
Women taking part in the study need to:
1. Be less than 16 weeks pregnant
2. Either they (the pregnant woman) or the biological father of the unborn child must have had eczema, asthma or hay fever that was treated by a doctor at some time in the past
3. Live in, and plan to deliver in the Wellington area
or
Live in, and plan to deliver in the Auckland area

Full details can be found at the University of Otago, Wellington Research website section.

Vicious Circle of Atopic Eczema

Atopic eczema all starts with the itch, which then gets driven by toxins produced by Staph. aureus once there is broken skin and continuous scratching and re-breaking of skin.

1. Itchy, dry skin
2. Scratching breaks the skin surface.
3. Lesions begin to weep.
4. Staphylococcus aureus (Staph. aureus) infect skin and colonise weeping lesions.
5. Toxins that are released by the Staph. aureus stimulate the body’s natural immune response.
6. The person’s mast cells release histamine. Mast cells are the tissue cells of our immune system – refer to Britannica Encyclopedia or Wikipedia. Immune system proteins called antibodies, which are bound to mast cells, bind to foreign substances/antigens (in this case, the Staph. aureus toxins) to remove them, but in the process the mast cells are stimulated to release their histamines.
7. Histamine causes inflammation and itch.

And then we have itchy, dry skin again….and the circle continues until we stop it by ensuring there is no more breaking of skin…

Source: a photo we took of the educational material that was shown to us during one of our consults by the Eczema Nurse of the Paediatric Community Nursing Team, Child Health Service, Wellington Hospital, Capital & Coast District Health Board.

What do we do when we feel itchy? Here’s the action song for kids!

I made up a silly catchy action song to help put some fun & light heartedness into the process of putting moisturisers on while my daughter was itchy, as well as the times when she was just really unhappy with the itchiness and discomfort of the eczema. It also came it quite handy to help her remember what to do everytime she felt itchy – haha basic brainwashing. (So this is what The Wiggles – banned in my house! – caught onto years ago haha)

Check out the video – my lyrics are below it:

What do we do when [child’s name] feels (shoulders shrugged & arms up in the air like you’re lost / unsure)
itchy? (itchy action like a monkey, underarms)

What do we do when [child’s name] feels (shoulders shrugged & arms up in the air like you’re lost / unsure)
itchy – like a monkey! (itchy action like a monkey, underarms)

We put cream on the itchy parts (gently pat arms, body, legs, any affected areas)
Cream on the itchy parts (gently pat arms, body, legs, any affected areas)
Cream on the itchy parts (gently pat arms, body, legs, any affected areas)
– Gentle, no scratching (no-no index finger wiggle)

We put cream on the itchy parts (gently pat arms, body, legs, any affected areas)
Cream on the itchy parts (gently pat arms, body, legs, any affected areas)
Cream on the itchy parts (gently pat arms, body, legs, any affected areas)
– All better!!! (smile and raise arms in the air like you’ve won first place / scored a goal!)

Copyright 2010. Li Ling Ho : )