Two assistant professors at the Aga Khan University’s School of Nursing and Midwifery (AKU-SONAM), Shairfa Lalani and Kiran Shaikh, have been awarded the
Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarships: Advanced-Scholars (QES-AS). Awarded for a year, the scholarship will help the researchers assess pregnancy-specific anxiety, stress and depression in expecting mothers and to study its relationship with epigenetics (study of changes in organisms caused by gene modification) and its e
"This is a great opportunity for us to extract DNA from the blood samples of pregnant women and transport it to the University of British Columbia, which is widely known for gene analysis."
Kiran Shaikh, Assistant Professor AKU-SONAM
ffect on preterm births in the country.
Being socially disadvantaged, having physically and emotionally abusive partner and in-laws, and undergoing a constant family pressure of giving birth to a male child are only a few among many common social, cultural and psychological stressors faced by pregnant women in Pakistan putting them at high risk for preterm labour or birth. The degree to which these psychosocial stressors tend to alter the genes that eventually lead to preterm births remains unknown.
Ms Lalani and Ms Shaikh will be working closely with Dr Shahirose Premji and Dr Nicole Letourneau of the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Nursing in Canada under this scholarship programme that identifies and supports scholars showing leadership potential to acquire world-ready research experience. QES-AS also seeks to strengthen the professional, leadership and intercultural skills of the awarded scholars. Dr David Arthur, Dean AKU-SONAM, will be their research mentor in Pakistan.
“Researchers in the developed world are widely studying epigenetics. Unfortunately, in the developing countries we do not have the capacity to analyse the genes. This is a great opportunity for us to extract DNA from the blood samples of pregnant women and transport it to the University of British Columbia which is widely known for gene analysis”, says Ms Shaikh. The two researchers had previously been part of the project in which they were assessing how psychological distress triggers dangerous biological responses in pregnant mothers; however, the newly added component of DNA extraction and its analysis as part of this scholarship is a breakthrough initiative in this space and will open myriad opportunities for health practitioners to propose effective and timely interventions.
Commenting on the importance of this issue, Ms Lalani shares, “About one-fifth to one-third of pregnant women in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) suffer from pregnancy-related psychosocial distress. When expecting mothers visit their obstetricians for routine tests and assessments, it is a common practice to only examine the growth and physical wellness of the baby in the mother’s womb”.
“What we need to understand is that if the mother is going through any kind of mental instability, there is a high risk of preterm birth”, she adds. Globally, preterm births are a leading cause of infant mortality and Pakistan is ranked second in the global listing of children’s deaths caused by early births according to
UNICEF.
LMIC represent a very high-need and medically underserved population, and Pakistan is indeed no exception. The research will help create new knowledge and provide significant insights into an unexplored area. The findings will further help clinicians and health care policy makers to develop targeted interventions and policies to effectively improve the emotional wellbeing of Pakistani women as well as reduce the growing numbers of babies born prematurely in Pakistan and in Pakistani immigrant families in Canada. The results of the study will also offer some great insights that can lead to the development of midwife-led interventions to reduce the prevalence of emotional distress in expecting mothers in the communities and hospital settings. This is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals that seek to end preventable newborn and child deaths by 2030.
