Barbara Corlett, who took part in the ELSPAC in the Isle of Man study, tells us about her experiences as a study mum...

It was over 20 years ago when I first met Edna Rolfe (Neddy). She appeared one day at the start of an Antenatal Clinic at the Cottage Hospital where I work as a staff nurse. She explained that she would like to enroll the pregnant mothers to take part in a longitudinal study to investigate the health and wellbeing of children. The study was to continue for 7 years, with both parents and child (when they were old enough) filling out questionnaires. Neddy made it sound quite simple, and was very enthusiastic.

I found this fascinating, as before moving to my present position I had worked as a community staff nurse in Brixton, London. During this time I met all sorts of people in their homes, and it became very clear that our families, our surroundings, our diet and all sorts of factors have an effect on our health and wellbeing. I became passionate about preventing ill health if at all possible. This led me to train as a Health Visitor, as I was under the impression that this way I would be able to change the world for the better. I discovered that this was a very naïve view as most of us find it quite difficult to change the habits of a lifetime, let alone listen to a stranger handing out what they feel is good advice. Nevertheless on meeting Neddy I could see that if there was evidence to prove that children’s health is affected through poor housing, poor diet, poor loving, etc. it could show how we can improve the health of the nation, and maybe indicate where the government should be putting its resources.

At every antenatal clinic Neddy would appear and chat to all the pregnant ladies in the waiting room, and was incredibly successful in enrolling nearly every mother to be. I was feeling quite left out until I discovered that I was pregnant with my third child, and then I suddenly found I was signed up as well.

This was the beginning of 7 years of questionnaires. I was amazed when I started filling out the first one, at the questions I was being asked. Had I moved house, got divorced, cried in the last day, week, or month? What did I eat? How big was my house? There were so many questions, which thankfully only needed a tick in a box.

My husband when he received the first questionnaire asked why they needed to know so many things about us. I explained that the more information they had about what makes us tick and how we live our lives, the more comprehensive the study would be on how we can improve the health of our children. It was also good to know that whatever answers we put down would be anonymous, so we could be as honest as possible.

In October 1991, I had a little girl, Emily, who weighed 9lb 9oz (4.12kg) so a rather large baby. Thankfully we only had approximately 1 questionnaire each year, and although they did take at least half an hour to fill in I was always fascinated by the questions they asked. They did make me think twice about what I was feeding the family, i.e. how often do you eat chips? How often do you eat ready meals? Also it made me think about the relationship with my husband, and was I keeping in touch with friends and family? How much bleach did I put down my sink? All the questions made me think. I was also hoping that I was being a good parent to Emily, and my other children, and hoping that I was giving them the best possible start in life. The questionnaires were a reminder for me that maybe I could do better. When Emily was a little bigger she filled out her own questionnaires, and I would have loved to see what she filled in. She enjoyed the task and remembers the drawing and colouring.

I was fortunate enough to be asked by Stephanie to help in collecting the data for the 7 year checks. This was a delight and privilege as I met many 7-year-olds in the study, who were extremely open about what their favourite things in life were, and how they viewed the world. It was an education in itself, and made me think of the saying “give me a child, and I’ll show you the man”, as by 7 one could see what sort of adults they would become - some quiet and shy, others bursting with confidence.

Emily is now nearly 23 and graduated from Durham University with a degree in Physics and is now studying for a Masters.  So maybe she didn’t have too many chips or suffer from the bleach I sometimes put down the sink.

At times I took a while to fill out my questionnaires, but I am so glad there will be a wealth of data for people in the future to study. It will be an evidence base to maybe improve the health of the nation for the better.