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Study to assist women decide how to give birth wins Bupa Foundation grant

19 March 2003

The Bupa Foundation has awarded a grant worth more than £250,000 to a study that will be run jointly by the Universities of Bristol and Dundee that aims to help women decide how to try and give birth. The study is looking at ways of assisting women who have already had a Caesarean section decide whether to try and give birth to subsequent children naturally or by another Caesarean section.

The study is one of three to be awarded grants totalling £600,000 by the Bupa Foundation this year. All three projects look specifically at the role of patient choice and education in healthcare.

Bupa's medical director Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen said, "There is a lot of talk about the patient as a consumer but there has been little research on patient involvement in healthcare. The Bupa Foundation therefore decided to take a proactive role in advancing thinking and practice in this important area and has committed £600,000 to support these exciting research projects. We look forward to seeing the results of these studies over the coming years and hope they will benefit patients directly."

The study, led by Dr Alan Montgomery at the University of Bristol, will be conducted among more than 600 pregnant women in maternity units at hospitals in Bristol and Dundee, Scotland.

"Women who have already had a Caesarean are faced with a difficult choice when it comes to deciding how to give birth to subsequent children. In these cases, deciding on the best and safest way of giving birth is complicated by the difficulty of weighing up the risks of a second Caesarean with those of a vaginal birth," said Dr Alan Montgomery.

His study will give three groups of women neutral information in different formats about the risks and benefits of both methods of giving birth. His team will evaluate the results in order to discover if one format assists women better to reach a decision.

"We are not looking to promote one method of delivery over another. Instead, we want women to be better informed and more sure of their decision, however they choose to try and give birth," said Dr Montgomery.

Bupa's medical director Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen said, "Patients are increasingly well informed and the benefits of patients reaching their own decisions about treatment in consultation with their doctors and other health professionals are well known. We believe this research will result in improved services for pregnant women."

The Bupa Foundation is a charitable organisation founded in 1979 that exists to provide finance towards the prevention, relief and cure of sickness and ill health. The Bupa Foundation has awarded grants in excess of £8 million for medical research and healthcare initiatives. This year the Bupa Foundation has committed £600,000 to fund research projects looking at the impact of patient choice and education.