A BOLTON mum who gave birth to twins is encouraging other expectant parents to consider becoming involved in a pioneering medical study to lessen the risks associated with premature birth.

Joanne Norris, of Long Lane, gave birth to healthy twins Harry and Evie at Royal Bolton Hospital in August last year.

However, at the beginning it was far from certain that her children would be born without complications given the increased risks in carrying twins.

Joanne’s risk was even greater still, due to the fact her cervix was shortened after undergoing LLETZ treatment a couple of years previously.

Joanne was approached by a member of the research team during a routine antenatal appointment at Bolton hospital.

It was suggested she might like to take part in a trial called STOPPIT-2, which is on the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) portfolio of research studies.

The trial aims to determine whether a small silicone device called an Arabin cervical pessary prevents preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and a short cervix.

After it was established Joanne met the criteria, she was recruited on to the study,

Almost a year later, the twins are doing great and Joanne, says she had a very positive experience of taking part in clinical research.

Joanne, a social worker said: ““Throughout the whole process, I felt very supported by the research team. If there were any issues, or if I had any concerns or queries, they were always available.

“I had a very positive outcome at the end of it all, because I gave birth to two beautiful babies. They were both born at 37 weeks and two days, which is amazing considering I was at high risk of premature birth. I feel the pessary worked for myself and I’m pleased to have contributed to the overall findings of the study.

“I would definitely recommend taking part in research to other people because I felt it was a very positive experience with a very positive outcome.”

Professor Jane Norman, from the University of Edinburgh’s MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, said: “We are still recruiting to the STOPPIT-2 study and we are very grateful to all the women who have participated to date.

“Bolton was the first NHS hospital to recruit to STOPPIT-2 in March 2015 and we would like to thank all the staff who support the study in Bolton and throughout the UK.

“Although we don’t currently know if the pessary is effective, we will complete the study recruitment next year, by which time over 2,000 women will have been screened with 500 randomly allocated to the interventions. We plan to have results available to share in 2020.”