A new Nuffield Foundation funded research project has begun, investigating prenatal origins of the attainment gap. Specifically, the researchers examining this topic will investigate five adversities experienced by mothers in the prenatal period. These will be – stress, teratogens and illness, malnutrition, sleep, and maternal metabolic disorders. They will then examine how these prenatal adversities influence children’s cognitive development and academic attainment. This research will be carried out through a series of systematic reviews, collating the findings from research to date to create future recommendations for policy makers, and highlighting areas of research that require further attention and development.

The project is being undertaken by an interdisciplinary and multi-organisational team. Two Research Associates at Lancaster University (Dr Charlotte Rothwell and Dr Rebecca Hall) will carry out the reviews, under the supervision of the Principal Investigator Dr Kirsty Dunn (Lancaster University). Additionally, academic, clinical and research staff from Lancaster University (Prof. Gert Westermann), University of Warwick (Dr. Tom Barber, Prof. Saravanan Ponnusamy, Prof. Thijs van Rens), University of Durham (Prof. Peter Tymms, Prof. Debbie Riby), University College London (Prof. Gabriella Conti), and The Bradford Institute for Health Science (Dr. Diane Farrar) will provide their expert guidance during the reviews. The team will also have the assistance of Kirsty Kitchen from Birth Companions, who is the Head of Policy and Communications so has knowledge on how to ensure that this research provides practical help to influence the future of relevant groups.

Charlotte and Rebecca began the project by extensively researching the area. They examined what facets had already been investigated across the five topics, since this is a review project that will require a collation of pre-existing work. They also examined potential dependent variables to ensure that optimal outcome variables were selected, since cognitive and academic development can cover a range of different strands that can be tested in a variety of ways. The group had a one day in person ‘Kick Off Meeting’ at Lancaster House Hotel in December, which provided a platform for the RAs to present their research and discuss with the wider group the avenues that everybody would like the research to explore. At this meeting, the group discussed many important aspects of the project, including search terms, independent and dependent variables of focus, authorship, and publication and dissemination opportunities. It was also decided that the group should have an identity so that communications across academic and non-academic platforms can be unified.

Following this in person kick off meeting, there was an online team catch up in January where all members of the group met to discuss any outstanding business, and those that could not attend the previous meeting could catch up on the progress of the project so far. This provided another platform for everyone to voice their opinions and thoughts, allowing progression on the project to continue. At this meeting, the group made more concrete decisions on potential dependent variables, and have decided to include measures of school readiness, cognitive development, IQ, attention, and academic success.

Now, the first review is in the process of being preregistered on PROSPERO, which will be on the topic of maternal stress. Following the preregistration, the first of the five reviews will begin. Additionally, the group will decide on a group name. The RAs will then work to build an online presence for the project, including a website and social media platforms such as ‘X’. This way, regular updates to academic and non-academic audiences can be provided.

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