We turned making babies into a science

The University of Adelaide has learned an enormous amount about reproductive health over the past 30 years. Our research at the Robinson Institute has helped to provide an understanding of the importance of conception, fertility, healthy pregnancies and early infant development. This knowledge has been passed on to help thousands of couples have healthy and happy babies. We have also helped reduce the risk of complications during pregnancy and increase the likelihood that babies are delivered safely, as well as caring for countless premature babies.

While having a baby is considered a very natural process, for some people, it is not straightforward. In the early 1960s there was limited help available to couples facing fertility challenges.  With the opportunity to increase scientific knowledge, and help people realise their dreams of parenthood, the University of Adelaide embarked on a journey to advance In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) where a male’s sperm and a female’s egg are fused outside the body.

The foundation for this research was laid in 1960 when Professor Lloyd Cox, based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), was appointed as the first Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.  Over the next two decades he built an inspiring department that specialised in reproductive medicine and infertility. Based on its success, a second University presence was launched at the Queen Victoria Hospital in Dulwich.

Professor Cox, followed by Professors Colin Matthews and John Kerin, turned the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department into a world-known fertility service and research enterprise.  In 1971, a major success was the establishment of Australia’s first sperm donor program and sperm bank (third in the world).  Following closely in 1979, the first IVF program in South Australia was launched – becoming the third in Australia to achieve an IVF birth. The group went on to achieve the first birth in South Australia from a frozen embryo transfer, and was the third in the world to achieve a birth following intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI).  They were also the first in Australia to achieve a birth following genetic diagnostic testing of an embryo before replacement in the mother’s womb to prevent cystic fibrosis and similar diseases.

In 1987, Repromed Pty Ltd was formed as a spin-out company providing clinical and other services in reproductive medicine. This became one of the University’s most successful ventures, contributing more than $30 million to the department for reproductive research. In the early 2000s a major node was established at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. Then in 2006 the main unit moved from the QEH to the Medical School and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Later that year, Repromed was sold to a private concern. To ensure the journey did not end there, funds from the sale of Repromed were reinvested by the University into research. As research advanced it became clear that collaboration needed to expand beyond just obstetrics and gynaecology – and so in 2008 the Robinson Institute was born.

Today, IVF is a common procedure in Australia - approximately one in 25 babies are born from IVF. According to Professor Robert Norman, Director of the Robinson Institute, the most significant change over the past 30 years is the success rates. "The clinic at which I work rarely implants more than one embryo and has a multiple pregnancy rate below 4 per cent, as compared to 40 per cent 25 years ago," he explains.

Professor Norman also predicts that the role of the embryologist will become more and more technical as they continue to ensure that IVF programs are high quality, well managed, and work effectively and efficiently.  At the Robinson Institute, Professor Sarah Robertson is already advancing technology - recently inventing a new culture that improves IVF embryo implantation rates.  In addition, physicist Professor Tanya Monro, Director of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing, is developing new sensing technologies for embryo selection in collaboration with Robinson Institute researchers. Both are predicted to make major contributions to the field.

Conception and fertility is of course just part of the process. Research at the Robinson Institute covers the entire spectrum from preconception, throughout pregnancy and childbirth, to early childhood development. The aim is to provide babies with the best start in life.  

With over 20,000 babies born prematurely each year, one the Institute’s focus areas is premature birth and its associated outcomes. In pregnancy, every week of gestation is important in ensuring normal brain development. This means that babies born prematurely, before 37 weeks, have a greater risk of neurological impairments such as cerebral palsy, as well as blindness, deafness, cognitive dysfunction and physical disability. The Robinson Institute is working to understand why premature birth can lead to these conditions so that early intervention can help save more lives and prevent these debilitating impairments.

The breadth of research that is undertaken to improve the health of mothers and babies demonstrates the University of Adelaide’s commitment to future generations.  With researchers closely linked to clinicians, ideas and outcomes are transferred at a faster rate to the community. Our aim is for science to positively impact, and guide, important parts of everyday life.