13th September 2023

Zoë Abbott’s research: Rheumatoid Arthritis and parenthood decisions 

Meet Zoë Abbott, Health and Care Research Wales funded PhD candidate in the Division of Population Medicine in Cardiff University, who is seeking to understand how individuals living with Inflammatory Arthritis (IA) experience family planning care in rheumatology and primary care settings to help identify what, if anything, needs to be improved. Future parents living with an IA diagnosis have to carefully consider their choices to start a family due to their symptoms, and potentially being reliant on medications which could interfere with a safe pregnancy.

Zoë has been working in various roles in health research since 2008 including trial management, data management and research delivery methods.  In 2010, at age 27, Zoë was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

It started with a pain in my wrist after I did a long-distance cycle from John O’Groats to Land’s End via Ireland. Then over the course of the next six to eight weeks it spread through my whole body. Even opening the door became painful.”

At that point Zoë was asking herself: “Is this normal?”. According to research,  girls can develop IA including RA and other types of arthritis in early childhood with statistics showing the diagnosis is more common in females than males.

Zoë continued:

I was heartbroken after my diagnosis. My world changed. I went from being very active, doing eight different sports, to mourning the life that I could have had.”

Her conversations with healthcare providers revealed the challenges of selecting medications like methotrexate which is a standard arthritis medication but can interfere with pregnancy. Zoë had an opportunity to pick what medication she would like to be put on and then started adapting to her new lifestyle.

As she learned to live with RA, Zoë experienced the ups and downs that chronic conditions often bring. She had managed her condition with determination and wondered how other individuals of childbearing age are supported to make decisions about family planning when they live with IA. In 2018 Zoë was successful in her application to study a Health and Care Research Wales funded PhD focusing on this same topic: how to best support those living with IA manage their family planning choices. This Health and Care Research Wales PhD Studentship Scheme is supervised by Drs Denitza Williams, Rhiannon Phillips and Natalie Joseph-Williams and Professors Adrian Edwards and Ernest Choy and is supported by the Health and Care Research Wales Faculty. It is from this that the FAMILIAR Study began.

The aim of the FAMILIAR Study is to understand how individuals of childbearing age living with IA make decisions about family planning, encompassing everything from contemplating parenthood to actively planning or avoiding pregnancy. Zoë aspires to empower patients with the knowledge they need to make informed choices, ensuring they are happy with those choices and their safety in making them.

Zoë’s determination to make things better for people with arthritis shines through her journey, from getting diagnosed to leading important research into the improvement of vital conversations about family planning between people diagnosed with IA and their medical teams.

If you would like to speak to Zoë about her journey or the FAMILIAR study, contact Zoë by email or social media. For more weekly research news and how you can take part or help with research sign up to our bulletin.