Publications by authors named "Katherine Birchenall"

Background: Female childhood cancer survivors with history of bone marrow transplant with or without total body irradiation have increased pregnancy risks. Preconception counselling and early referral to appropriate clinical pathways may improve pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: UK-wide survey of clinicians, promoted via social media and conferences, jointly funded by Action Medical Research/Borne.

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Background: There are limited data on the risks of obstetric complications among survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer with most previous studies only reporting risks for all types of cancers combined. The aim of this study was to quantify deficits in birth rates and risks of obstetric complications for female survivors of 17 specific types of adolescent and young adult cancer.

Methods: The Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Survivor Study (TYACSS)-a retrospective, population-based cohort of 200 945 5-year survivors of cancer diagnosed at age 15-39 years from England and Wales-was linked to the English Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database from April 1, 1997, to March 31, 2022.

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Objective: Our objective was to codesign, implement, evaluate acceptability and refine an optimised antenatal education session to improve birth preparedness.

Design: There were four distinct phases: codesign (focus groups and codesign workshops with parents and staff); implementation of intervention; evaluation (interviews, questionnaires, structured feedback forms) and systematic refinement.

Setting: The study was set in a single maternity unit with approximately 5500 births annually.

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Objectives: To explore and characterise maternity healthcare professionals' (MHCPs) experience and practice of shared decision-making (SDM), to inform policy, research and practice development.

Design: Qualitative focus group study.

Setting: Large Maternity Unit in the Southwest of England.

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Introduction: The mechanism for human labour remains poorly understood, limiting our ability to manage complications including spontaneous preterm birth and induction of labour (IOL). The study of fetal signals poses specific challenges. Metabolomic analysis of maternal blood, the cord artery (CA), and cord vein (CV), allows simultaneous interrogation of multiple metabolic pathways associated with different modes of labour onset and birth.

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The mechanism of human labour remains poorly understood, limiting our ability to manage complications of parturition such as preterm labour and induction of labour. In this study we have investigated the effect of labour on plasma metabolites immediately following delivery, comparing cord and maternal plasma taken from women who laboured spontaneously and delivered vaginally with women who were delivered via elective caesarean section and did not labour. Samples were analysed using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

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Background: This study, conducted in the tertiary Foetal Medicine Unit at St Michael's Hospital, Bristol, was designed to obtain information regarding neonatal outcomes of pregnancies affected by haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn and managed by intrauterine transfusion, and to determine whether a change in intrauterine transfusion protocol in 2004 had improved safety. The new protocol included attendance of two Foetal Medicine Unit consultants, foetal sedation and use of the intrahepatic vein as an alternative route to placental cord insertion if deemed safer.

Materials And Methods: Data for pregnancies affected by haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn as a result of haemolytic red cell alloimmunisation and managed with intrauterine transfusion at St Michael's Hospital between 1999 and 2009 were retrospectively collected using local databases, and medical note review.

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