Before You Were Born

The University of Manchester’s Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre (MFHRC) is one of the largest pregnancy research groups in Europe, with the aim of ‘finding solutions to pregnancy problems’.

On Saturday 2 September the group hosted an interactive and informative public engagement event ‘Before You Were Born’. The event attracted over 200 members of the public, with attendees aged between less than 1 to 74 years from across Manchester.

The aims of the event were to increase awareness of pregnancy problems, educate on how lifestyle can affect pregnancy, and to create opportunities for the public to get involved in MFHRC’s research. Over two hours, 50 University staff, research midwives, clinicians and postgraduate students delivered the event, engaging the public through interactive table-top science stands, the ‘little lab’ for younger children, ‘meet the scientist’ short talks, and information on specialist pregnancy clinics as well as art, craft and poetry.

The event drew a very positive response from the public, with attendees reporting increased awareness, knowledge and interest in MFHRC’s research, and even inspiring some to consider placenta research as a future path. The success of the day demonstrated the importance of involving local communities with the University’s work.