Pepi heart survival rate alarms researchers 16 Jul 2021 15:18 PM
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Liggins Institute researchers want to know why fewer Māori and Pacific pēpi survive critical congenital heart disease compared with European babies.
Institute director and project head Professor Frank Bloomfield says researchers including Starship paediatrician Dr Simone Watkins will travel the country to ask affected families about their experiences of the medical system, starting with the baby’s diagnosis, as part of trying to understand why the ethnic disparities exist.
He says lower survival rates in Māori and Pasifika pēpi don’t seem to be explained by the severity of the condition itself.
Pepi heart survival rate alarms researchers 16 Jul 2021 15:18 PM
More Related Stories
Related Podcast
Liggins Institute researchers want to know why fewer Māori and Pacific pēpi survive critical congenital heart disease compared with European babies.
Institute director and project head Professor Frank Bloomfield says researchers including Starship paediatrician Dr Simone Watkins will travel the country to ask affected families about their experiences of the medical system, starting with the baby’s diagnosis, as part of trying to understand why the ethnic disparities exist.
He says lower survival rates in Māori and Pasifika pēpi don’t seem to be explained by the severity of the condition itself.
Hush Naidoo/Unsplash
Researchers will travel New Zealand listening to families of babies born with severe heart defects. The researchers will also analyse birth data, and discuss the condition with experts who work with affected babies. Professor Frank Bloomfield, who is overseeing the investigation, said: “Lower survival rates in Māori and Pasifika tamariki don’t seem to be explained by the severity of the condition itself – that’s why we are taking a much closer look at all factors.” “We expect that this study will shed some light, and may lead to changes in the way we care for these whānau.”
+Undoctored Families of babies born with severe heart defects will tell their stories in project that just got HRC funding
University of Auckland
1 minute to Read
Liggins Institute researchers will travel the country to listen to families whose babies were born with severe and sometimes fatal heart defects.
The team, which includes specialist doctors from Auckland City and Starship Children’s Hospital, are investigating why fewer Māori and Pacific tamariki survive critical congenital heart disease compared with European babies.
The Health Research Council has awarded $377,000 of funding for the three-year project, headed by Professor Frank Bloomfield, the director of the Liggins, a University of Auckland research institute.
Wednesday, 14 April 2021, 12:57 pm
Why are preterm babies less likely to get breast
milk if they’re Māori?
That question has
emerged from research by the University of Auckland’s
Liggins Institute into nutrition for preterm
babies.
Māori preterm babies who were receiving
intravenous fluids had the lowest odds of transitioning to
breast milk in hospital, according to a study of 151 babies
born at 32- to 35-weeks’ gestation.
The mothers all
aimed for their babies to be fed on breast milk, rather than
infant formula, once the children got off intravenous
fluids, said Tanith Alexander, a PhD student and paediatric