Professor Norman’s research focusses on the pregnancy “stressors” of obesity, maternal depression/stress, inflammation and hypoxia. These pregnancy stressors are largely responsible for the clinical conditions of gestational diabetes, preterm birth and stillbirth, all of which have devastating effects on pregnant women and their babies. Her research group aims to understand how these pregnancy stressors cause these clinical conditions and to develop preventive and therapeutic strategies. Her research uses a broad array of research strategies, from basic science, through animal models, to clinical trials and beyond to population-based research to address these clinical problems. She is the MRC CRH lead for “Developmental programming by steroid hormones and reproductive resilience”.