By Doctoral Research Student at Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and visiting researcher at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
My name is Charlotte, I am a French-Dutch medical doctor and a PhD candidate at Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. I am also a visiting researcher at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London. My PhD project, entitled project MADAM (Model Adjusted Doses for All Mothers), focuses on the design and implementation of an international pregnancy formulary, or in other words an evidence-based information source on medication doses in pregnancy. Project MADAM is a collaboration between the Radboud and Maastricht University Medical Centres in the Netherlands and the Dutch Teratology Information Service.
Most women use medication during pregnancy. Due to their changing bodies, pregnant women may require different medication doses than non-pregnant adults. Yet, information on medication doses in pregnancy is largely missing. As part of project MADAM, my colleagues and I use new kinds of evidence to issue dose recommendations in pregnancy. Examples of evidence that we use are computer models that mimic the physiology of pregnant women and their unborn child. We use different kinds of data to inform these models including placenta perfusion experiments that allow us to investigate the transfer of medications from mothers to their foetus.
The new dose recommendations will be made available to healthcare practitioners internationally. Pregnant women will also be able to access information on this website.
An important step for setting up a pregnancy formulary consists in understanding the information needs of healthcare practitioners and (recently) pregnant women regarding medication and medication doses in pregnancy.
You can contribute to project MADAM in the following ways:
a) By clicking here and participating in the online survey for healthcare practitioners.
b) By sharing information on our survey for (recently) pregnant women with your pregnant patients (women that are currently pregnant or have been pregnant in the last three years): Here.
Both surveys are anonymous and last less than ten minutes to fill in. There is no prior knowledge needed. The surveys will be active until 15 November 2022.
For further information or to receive dissemination messages and a poster with QR code to share the survey with pregnant women, you can email Charlotte at projectmadam@radboudumc.nl.
