Hospitals tackle pregnancy threat

The study will look at women who are at high-risk of pre-eclampsia

Two of Leicester's hospitals are taking part in the country's largest ever study of a potentially fatal condition in pregnancy.

Researchers hope to establish whether vitamin supplements can help prevent pre-eclampsia - which causes three deaths a week.

Every year around 25,000 expectant mothers in the UK are affected by the problem.

In damaging the blood vessels it can injure their organs and reduced blood flow to the placenta can cause the growth of the baby to slow or even for the child to die.

Early delivery is currently the only solution but premature birth brings with it its own risks such as respiratory problems, blindness and deafness.

Researchers know the condition leads to a deficiency in certain vitamins and believe this is the cause.

The team wants to recruit 240 women from the Leicester Royal Infirmary or General to be given a supplement of vitamins C and E to see if this is the determining factor.