Abstract
Clinical research undertaken in pregnant women is limited due to the belief that pregnant women and their foetuses are a vulnerable group. As a result, much of the research that does occur in this population focuses primarily on aspects of obstetric practice, preterm labour and foetal safety. There are increasing calls to broaden the research agenda to include a much wider range of conditions and study both short and long-term maternal and foetal outcomes. For example, this includes research topics such as the impact of maternal mental health, asthma, oral health, and hypertension during pregnancy on both maternal and infant outcomes. The use of probiotic supplements is an interesting example of an intervention in pregnancy-related research because they are widely considered dietary supplements rather than medications, and therefore fall into the category of ‘lifestyle’ interventions. Other lifestyle factors include use of complementary and over-the-counter medications, behaviours (including exercise or smoking), stress, and other dietary factors.
This chapter provides an overview of some examples of lifestyle interventions aimed at pregnant women and current research into probiotic supplement use during pregnancy. We then focus on a specific study “Probiotics in Pregnancy: Improving health during pregnancy and preventing infant eczema and allergy” (PiP Study) in Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand. This study usefully illustrates some of the methodological issues associated with recruiting and running studies using a lifestyle intervention for pregnant women. The conclusion looks at future priority areas for this research agenda, and considers barriers to conducting lifestyle research during pregnancy.