On 1 May 2021 we started a new research project within Lifelines NEXT. In this study, we are investigating how the immune system is regulated during and after pregnancy.

Gynecologist Jelmer Prins explains why this is so important: “Normally, the body repels everything that is foreign to it. And, basically, the cells of the baby that a pregnant woman carries are foreign to the mother. Yet the child is not rejected. This is because the maternal immune system adapts during pregnancy to prevent this. But exactly how it does so remains unknown. What we do know is that the risk of complications (such as preeclampsia and premature birth) is increased if these adjustments do not work properly. That is why in this project we are investigating the regulation of the maternal immune system during and after pregnancy.”

In this study, we take an extra tube of blood from (expectant) mothers at various time points. In this blood we look at cells of the immune system. We can then link the properties and development of these cells to other information from Lifelines NEXT. This will give us a better picture of the regulation of the maternal immune system and a better understanding of how the immune system adapts in a healthy pregnancy as well as why this sometimes does not go well in a complicated pregnancy.