OC research – your chance to help
When I was first diagnosed with OC there was very little known about it in this country. There were no helplines, no websites (no Internet!), nothing in the medical textbooks and no baby magazine or pregnancy book featured it.
Today things have improved. Internet searches will yield many references to the condition, obstetric books are beginning to mention it and the media are at last realising that OC is something that women need to know about.
I believe this is due in large part to the many women and families who have donated samples and provided data for research into the condition. Their generosity has enabled research to take place. Scientific papers have been published as a result and this in turn has resulted in groups such as Professor Williamson’s Maternal & Fetal Disease Group at Imperial College, London being able to obtain additional funding. The group is also indebted to all the clinicians and midwives around the country who have helped to collect these samples and provide data.
To maintain this momentum more samples are still needed and this is where we need you. You can do as much or as little as you want, from completing questionnaires through to donating blood samples and post-delivery placental samples. Full ethical permission has been given for this study to take place.
If you think you would like to know more about what it all involves just email me: jennychambersoc@aol.com. You need to be over 18 and either have OC or have had a diagnosis of OC in the past. Your samples will make a difference, helping researchers add to existing knowledge of the condition; knowledge that has only come about because of the generosity of previous OC families. Please do think about it.
