ESTEEM Newsletter

March, Issue 6
Effect of Simple, Targeted diEt in prEgnant women with
Metabolic risk factors on pre-eclampsia
Looking for further

Welcome to the sixth edition of the ESTEEM newsletter! This month, we

information?

would like to focus on our study intervention. We will meet our two lovely
dieticians working across all three sites and learn a bit more on what the

Website

http://
blizard.qmul.ac.uk/
researchgeneration/866-

intervention entails.
This month we celebrated over

700

esteem
women recruited to ESTEEM.

Twitter

Dont forget to

Of these we have just under 200

women with risk factors (high BMI/
BP/ Cholesterol) who have been
randomly allocated to the ESTEEM
health eating plan or Control.

Meet the Dieticians

Our lovely dieticians Eleni and Robyn work across all 3 sites delivering the
intervention through 1-1 sessions, group sessions and over the telephone.

follow us on Twitter

ESTEEM Sites

Open

I am thrilled to be working on the ESTEEM

study. I have spent the last year working in
maternal and infant nutrition and found this
to be very rewarding. Research and innovation
are passions of mine and so I am thoroughly
looking forward to delivering the interventions
for this exciting study. Thank you everyone for
such a lovely warm welcome to the team!
Robyn Henry

Eleni Spyreli, Robyn Henry

Royal London Hospital

Newham University
Hospital
Whipps Cross Hospital

Although nutrition has many exciting areas, I realised quite early that research is
the right path for me. Also, I was always interested in prevention and management
of disease through nutrition and this is one of the reasons I am excited to be part of
ESTEEM. Nutrition during pregnancy has a major impact on a developing baby and
predisposition towards chronic diseases in later life. Thus, helping women improve
their diet and supporting them with the difficulties they have throughout their pregnancy is very rewarding for me. Eleni Spyreli

Page 2

ESTEEM Newsletter, March 2015

Intervention FAQ
If I am found to have a risk factor will I meet with a dietician? Women with risk factors are
randomly allocated to the ESTEEM diet or Control. If you are in the ESTEEM diet you will meet with
a dietician for a 1-1session and have 2 group sessions. If you are assigned to the control group, you
will receive standard care which may involve a dietician but may not depending on your BMI.
If I am in the intervention will I have to drastically change my diet? No, we are looking at
substituting certain items in your diet for example the type of fat you cook with. We will be
providing recipe books designed for culturally diverse audiences so you will still be able to eat your
normal foods, just with a few suggested changes! The dietician will create a tailored advice to suit
you and your family.
Why do we have a control group? The control group allows us to see what effect our diet is
having. We match women in the intervention and women receiving current standard care (no intervention) with as many factors as we can so we can just assess the impact of the intervention. In
ESTEEM we match women on ethnicity, BMI, gravida.
Does the research team choose which group I go into? No. We use a computer system which
randomly allocates women into each group.

TOP RECRUITERS!
Februarys top recruiters are
A special CONGRATULATIONS to Zahra

RLH Zahra Moghadam

Moghadam who received a certificate of

NUH Sarah Kakembo

contribution this month for recruiting

over 100 women into ESTEEM!

WHX Florence Chidyaysiku

Congratulations- 10 voucher is on its way!

ESTEEM RESEARCH TEAM; Contact us

Royal London

Newham University

Whipps Cross

Sal Higgins

Joanne Hutchinson

Prudence Jones

020 3594 2398

07824 825279

07837 227370

Shakila Thangaratinam, Chief Investigator, s.thangaratinam@qmul.ac.uk

Kirsty Anderson, Trial Coordinator: kirsty.anderson@qmul.ac.uk, Tel: 020 7882 6049
Bassel Wattar, Research Fellow: b.wattar@qmul.ac.uk
Eleni Spyreli, Dietician: Eleni.Spyreli@bartshealth.nhs.uk ,Tel: 07775 010531
Robyn Henry, Dietician: Robyn.Henry@bartshealth.nhs.uk