MELODY Trial - Modulating maternal microbiome during pregnancy through diet

A new trial, called MELODY, is looking to explore whether manipulating a mother's microbiome through diet has benefits to their baby. Trial research co-ordinator Caitlin Cawley tells us more...

Mothers with Crohn’s disease    

Accumulating evidence suggests that maternal health and diet during pregnancy and early life have an impact on the baby's microbiome composition and immune system development, with long-term health consequences, including establishing predisposition to Crohn's disease and other immune-mediated diseases.

By modulating maternal microbiome during pregnancy through diet, researchers at the UMass Medical School, hope to be able to promote healthier immune system development in infants born to mothers with Crohn's disease.    

Trial to evaluate the efficacy of a diet

The MELODY Trial, conducted by the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will test whether a non-­invasive diet intervention implemented during the third trimester of pregnancy can beneficially shift the microbiome, or the bacterial flora of the body, in patients with Crohn's disease and in their babies.

We are currently enrolling expectant mothers across the United States with or without Crohn’s disease, and in their third trimester (<27 weeks). Participation involves the collection of stool, saliva, health status, and dietary questionnaires and others from pregnant women, as well as stool samples from their infants during the first year after birth.

Women with Crohn’s disease will be allowed to select whether they participate in the diet intervention, which has been adapted for pregnancy. Compensation is provided.

Get involved

If you are interested in the MELODY Trial or know someone who may be, please visit or share the MELODY Trial page.