About
Creating evidence-based knowledge and support for women before and during pregnancy, to improve the health of women and the next generation.
The Centre of Research Excellence in Health in Preconception and Pregnancy (CRE HiPP) is an innovative, passionate, multi-disciplinary team of researchers, clinicians, students and consumers determined to refine and implement health promotion, lifestyle improvement and obesity prevention for women planning pregnancy and during pregnancy.
More than half of Australian women will enter pregnancy with overweight or obesity, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
A higher body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy (preconception) independently increases the risk of pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, caesarean section birth, and large-for-gestational-age infants, with maternal weight at conception also a key determinant of childhood obesity. In turn, children born to mothers living with obesity are twice as likely to be living with obesity themselves as children, through to adolescence and adulthood.
Many women (between 40-60 per cent) will also gain too much weight during pregnancy. The US Institute of Medicine pregnancy weight gain recommendations1 outlines the amount of weight women should aim to gain based on their pre-pregnancy BMI – their BMI at the time they conceive. Every kilogram a woman gains above these recommendations increase her risk of adverse maternal and foetal outcomes by around 10 per cent.
With these statistics in mind, the CRE in Health in Preconception and Pregnancy will:
1 Institute of Medicine; National Research Council. Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Re-examining the Guidelines – Report Brief; Institute of Medicine: Washington (DC), USA, 2009 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK32801/table/ch7.t3/?report=objectonly
Meet our Investigators
The Centre of Research Excellence in Health in Preconception and Pregnancy (CRE HiPP) brings together a multidisciplinary team of researchers, clinicians, students and support staff passionate about women's lifestyle health during preconception and pregnancy.
Professor Helen Skouteris
Director of CRE HiPP
Monash Warwick Professor in Health and Social Care Improvement and Implementation Science; Head of Health and Social Care Unit, Co-Lead of the Division of Evidence Synthesis, Qualitative and Implementation Methods, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University
Professor Helena Teede
NHMRC MRFF Practitioner Fellow; Director of Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI); Executive Director of Monash Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University; Endocrinologist, Monash Health
Associate Professor Jacqueline Boyle
Head of Health Systems and Equity at Eastern Health clinical School, Monash University; Adjunct Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Monash University; Obstetrician/Gynaecologist, Monash Health
Associate Professor Lisa Moran
NHF Future Fellow; Head of Healthy Lifestyles Program at Monash Health; Dietitian, MCHRI, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University
Professor Shakila Thangaratinam
Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Health, Obstetrician, University of Birmingham
Professor Andrew Hills
Associate Dean, Global, Professor of Sports and Exercise Science, University of Tasmania
Professor Alison Venn
Director of Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Professor of Endocrinology, University of Tasmania
Professor Brian Jack
Medical Physician, Chair of the Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, Boston University
Professor Robert Norman
Reproductive Endocrinologist and Obstetrician Gynaecologist, Founder of Robinsons Research Institute, SA, Director fertilitySA, Professor of Reproductive and Periconceptual Medicine, University of Adelaide
Associate Professor Zanfina Ademi
Epidemiologist and Health Economist, Monash University
Governance
Our Partners
CRE HiPP is proud to partner with a number of state, national and international bodies to achieve its goals. We are also a member of the Collaboration for Enhanced Research Impact (CERI), a joint initiative to enhance the profile and impact of chronic disease prevention in Australia. Find out more about CERI. CRE HiPP thanks the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for its support, enabling our researchers to lead the way in preconception and pregnancy lifestyle health.
