Pregnant women who were vaccinated against Human Papillomavirus (HPV) at school are less likely to experience serious pregnancy related complications according to University of Aberdeen research.
Incidences of pre-eclampsia, pre-term prelabour rupture of membranes (water’s breaking early) and antepartum haemorrhage (bleeding after 24 weeks) were significantly reduced in women who had been vaccinated against the virus.
This is the first study in the world to investigate the link between HPV vaccination and this broad range of adverse pregnancy outcomes. The full paper is published in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology.
Funded by NHS Grampian Charity and by Newton fund PhD Fellowship, the team of researchers from the University of Aberdeen examined data routinely collected from some 9200 women in Aberdeen between 2006 and 2020. The data were collected as part of the Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank - a database of all pregnancies occurring in Aberdeen from 1950 onwards – a resource unique to Aberdeen and the longest running continuously recording database in the world.
The results showed a clear reduction in pre-eclampsia, pre-term prelabour rupture of membranes and antepartum haemorrhage in women who had been vaccinated against HPV.
Dr Andrea Woolner, Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen and Honorary Consultant Obstetrician and Early Pregnancy Lead at NHS Grampian, led the research. Dr Woolner explains their findings: “We know from previous research that if the pregnant mother had previously had HPV infection, or previously undergone treatment to the cervix for precancerous changes, they were at an increased risk of pregnancy complications such as preterm birth.
“So, we wanted to know if having the HPV vaccine, reducing the likelihood of HPV infection and thereby the need for cervical treatments would reduce the chances of some of these pregnancy complications.
“We found that women vaccinated against HPV had better outcomes than those who were not vaccinated for several common pregnancy complications.
“This reinforces the importance of uptake of the HPV vaccine before the age of 15 years. Not only does the HPV vaccine protect against cancer – we have found in our research, that the vaccine may also protect against serious pregnancy related complications.”
The authors suggest that, as the HPV vaccination programme has been gender neutral since 2019, future research should consider any potential benefits on male fertility outcomes.
Dr Maggie Cruickshank, Emeritus Professor, at the University of Aberdeen and Consultant Gynaecologist at NHS Grampian adds: “Vaccinating boys alongside girls enhances herd immunity, significantly reducing the risk of HPV-related cancers in all genders and supporting healthier pregnancies in the future.
“These new findings also open the door to exploring additional benefits of the HPV vaccine for men.”
Dr Xiaoqian Xu, who collaborated on the study adds: "Our results highlight the benefits of HPV vaccination, and fundamentally, the benefits of the vaccination early.
“The HPV vaccine is most effective if administered before any sexual activity so early HPV vaccination is vital, delaying or catching up later may miss the best chance to protect both against cancer and pregnancy complications".