Maternal blood test may predict birth complications

A protein found in the blood of pregnant women could be used to develop tests to determine the health of their babies and aid decisions on early elective deliveries, according to an early study led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Tests in pregnant mice and a small sample of women found that low levels of the blood marker known as DLK1 were a good predictor of poor foetal growth and complications of pregnancy, and could be used as a non-invasive prenatal diagnostic. Lead researcher Dr Marika Charalambous from QMUL said: "At the moment, there are very few ways of predicting which pregnancies will go wrong, and which small babies are small because they are not getting enough nutrition while in the womb, and which are small simply because of their genes." "It's incredibly important to start developing tests that can give an obstetrician much more information on the pregnancy before delivery, so that they can intervene before complications come to crisis point. "Measuring DLK1 levels in the mother's blood could be a reliable and non-invasive way of predicting whether there are likely to be complications, especially those that cause reduced nutrient supply to the baby. In those instances, you really need to get the baby out quickly, so women could opt to have an early elective delivery." DLK1 is a protein that is found in high levels in the mother's blood during pregnancy, in humans and rodents. But little has been known about its source, what it does, and whether it can indicate anything about the health of a foetus.