Babyworld and SPARKS in 2006
- your chosen research project

A HUGE thank you to all of you who voted in the babyworld/SPARKS research project poll. We received hundreds of votes and are delighted that so many of you are demonstrating such a strong level of support at this early stage of the campaign. Now that the votes have been counted, we can reveal Pre-Eclampsia is the research project you've decided we should support in 2006! It was extremely close at the end with just 8 votes separating your winning project and the research into brain damage in premature babies.

A message from Martin Johnson   The project you've chosen  About SPARKS

A message from Martin Johnson

All of us here at babyworld are thrilled to be raising money towards such an important cause and we hope you will enjoy helping and supporting us in our quest to raise those essential funds. SPARKS President and rugby World Cup Captain, Martin Johnson is delighted that we're supporting his charity and has this special message for the babyworld community:

As SPARKS President, I'm deeply grateful to babyworld.co.uk for teaming up to support SPARKS. The money YOU raise will make a huge contribution. My longstanding support for SPARKS was reinforced when my wife Kay suffered from pre-eclampsia while expecting our daughter Molly. Last year SPARKS broke its own record for a single year, raising over 1 million net. We're proud of that. But our frustration is that every year SPARKS runs out of money before it runs out of deserving research projects seeking our help.

As President, my ultimate goal is to see the day we never have to say NO to a worthwhile request for funding. It's a great goal to aim for, but it's only achievable with the invaluable support of great friends like babyworld.co.uk Thank you. Martin Johnson, CBE - SPARKS President

Martin Johnson, with wife Kay and daughter Molly

The project you've chosen

PRE-ECLAMPSIA
Identification of a protein implicated in pre-eclampsia
£108,609 over thirty months at The University of Manchester

The funds we raise will help to identify a protein released by the placenta in women affected by pre-eclampsia. If successful this would lead to an effective screening test and the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Every year in the UK almost 70,000 women and their families are affected by pre-eclampsia, the most common of the serious complications of pregnancy. It is potentially life threatening to mother and baby if allowed to develop and progress undetected.

About 1 in 50 pregnancies are seriously affected, and it is still responsible for the deaths of between 3 and 5 women a year as well as between 500 and 600 babies. It cannot be predicted, reliably prevented or treated to allow the pregnancy to continue and although first identified more than 150 years ago, its prime cause remains unknown.

About SPARKS

SPARKS have funded hundreds of vital medical research projects - tackling a broad spectrum of infant diseases like cerebral palsy, meningitis, spina bifida, childhood arthritis and cancers. Through campaigns like ours, they can continue their positive, brilliant and successful work - creating positive solutions to heart-breaking diseases and illness.

We will keep up-to-date with activities, events and SPARKS news on babyworld and if you have any comments or suggestions of your own, please email us at: SPARKS@babyworld.co.uk

Where to next?

 How can I help?  
 See Victor and Anj Ubogu's new baby
 Enter our Foodie Faces photo competition
 See the winners of our Sporty babies gallery