Fetal growth restriction

Fetal growth restriction is one of the most common pregnancy complications and is experienced by around 20,000 women per year in the UK. It is directly linked to stillbirth, and our centre’s mission is to reduce this by:

• understanding the causes of fetal growth restriction and stillbirth
• developing new tools to diagnose fetal growth restriction
• preventing stillbirths by identifying babies at risk
• developing new national guidelines for health professionals.

Women from the north-west with fetal growth restriction are seen in the Manchester Placenta Clinic, which is led by Professor Ed Johnstone.

It provides streamlined, one-to-one patient care and advice for 500 pregnant women per year. It also trains a wide array of healthcare workers in monitoring techniques. The care pathways developed have been widely adopted throughout the NHS.