Active clinical trials for "Birth Weight"

Does ear acupuncture reduce anxiety in mother of very low birth weight infants?

Intrauterine growth restriction ( IUGR )is defined as fetal growth slower than the normal growth potential of a specific fetus because of genetic or environmental factors. Recently several studies have highlighted the role of many biomolecules as markers for IUGR. Measurement of maternal serum ferritin has also been used as a predictive marker for increased risk of IUGR. Iron deficiency has its known deleterious effect in pregnancy but iron loading may be associated with oxidative damage to cells and tissues. It has been shown in various studies that lower level of transferritin receptor expression in placenta is associated with preeclampsia and IUGR. This can lead to decrease extraction of iron by placenta from maternal serum leading to increase maternal serum ferritin. This fetal iron deficiency leads to increase in fetal corticotropins and fetal cortisol, causing inhibition of fetal growth

This study is conducted to assess the role of pregnant women's daily mobility living in the Eurometropole of Strasbourg in a context of the existence of environmental exposure disparities (PM10, PM2.5, NO2). Furthermore, this study will tend to identify the critical windows of exposure and of greater risk of the adverse pregnancy outcomes as low birth weight and prematurity. A second question addressed in this work is to assess the relationship between the pregnant women's socio-economic status and the air pollution exposure (PM10, PM2.5, NO2).taking into account the spatio-temporal variations of the exposure as well as the critical windows of exposure during pregnancy. The present work deals with the following question "how does the combination of environmental exposure, socio-economic status and women's daily mobility, could contribute to socio-spatial inequalities in the health of the newborn? The underlying hypothesis is that the accumulation, in given area, of environmental exposures (as PM10, PM2.5 and NO2), of unfavorable living conditions (socio-economic environment) and individual factors (specific spatio-temporal trajectory) would induce an increased risk for the health of the newborn, (more particularly in terms of birth weight and term of birth). This hypothesis is structured 4 sub-hypotheses: i) The misclassification of exposure is socially distributed among pregnant women living in the Eurometropole of Strasbourg. ii) Beyond maternal and fetal characteristics, pregnant women who reside in a more socio-economically deprived neighborhood and / or with higher levels of environmental exposure to PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 are more at risk of preterm newborn and low birth weight newborn. iii) The accumulation of environmental exposures of the pregnant women and their daily mobility over their territory during the pregnancy increase the health inequalities of the newborn. iv) The critical windows of fetal exposure to pollutants is related to the socioeconomic level of their neighborhood and to the daily mobility of the women in their territory during pregnancy. Women are included in the study at the time of their first or second trimester ultrasound. Here are the tools used in the study: Descriptive survey of their idividuals characteristics, descriptive survey of women's mobility to assess their exposure during each trimester of pregnancy.

Many pregnant women experience stress, fatigue, and poor sleep quality that may influence infant outcomes such as prematurity and low birthweight through immunologic pathway of biomarkers (serum cytokines and c-reactive protein). In contrast, TaiChi exercise, one kind of physical activity, can increase pulmonary and immune functions and reduce stress may therefore prevent pregnancy complications and further prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes; however, its effects has not been explored in studies. Therefore, this study aims to investigate relationships between prenatal stress, fatigue, sleep quality, biomarkers, and infant outcomes; modified a TaiChi exercise program suitable for pregnant women; and test the effects of the exercise on reducing stress and fatigue, promote sleep quality, modulate biomarkers, and prevent adverse infant outcomes. Infant outcomes in the study will be measured with gestational age and birthweight. The study is a three-stage longitudinal interventional design.

Umbilical artery catheters (UACs) are associated with significant morbidity in preterm neonates however are necessary for the management of this high risk population. UACs have been linked to serious adverse events (SAEs) including arterial thrombosis, necrotizing enterocolitis, limb ischemia, and renal failure. Resonance Raman Spectroscopy (RRS), raman for short, is a technology that utilizes vibrational spectroscopy, rather than absorbance spectroscopy, to determine the oxyhemoglobin concentration in tissues. In this prospective, observational study, daily measurements of StO2 of low birth weight neonates using raman spectroscopy will be correlated with UACs.The study team hypothesizes that raman can detect changes in peripheral tissue oxygenation in the ipsilateral extremity to the UAC and that raman is more sensitive at detecting changes in peripheral tissue oxygenation then common metrics used to monitor neonatal hemodynamics. If successful, this study would demonstrate that raman can be used as an early marker of tissue oxygen deprivation in neonates with UACs and maybe used to guide management in other clinical scenarios where StO2 is affected.

VLBW infants are at risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). In the first phase of ROP there is a down-regulation of retinal VEGF-expression because of postnatal relative hyperoxia, followed by an upregulation of VEGF mediated through retinal hypoxia, which leads to pathologic vessel formation. VEGF acts through binding to the specific receptor FLT-1, the soluble form sFLT-1 is a specific antagonist of VEGF action. Erythropoietin, given to VLBW infants to prevent anemia, may stimulate VEGF-production in neuronal cells. Currently, there are no data published about VEGF urine-levels in VLBW infants and it is not known, if urine VEGF-levels may serve as a non-invasive marker of ROP-risk. Further shall be investigated, if erythropoietin-therapy increases urine VEGF-levels and if there is a correlation with ROP-development.

Preterm infants account for 6 % of all live-births in western societies. Scientific evidence can be found for altered palatal morphology in the short term among preterm children. Oral intubation and orogastric feeding might be contributing factors to these alterations, but it has not been examined whether in the absence of these interventions preterm infants' palates are altered a priori as compared to term infants, e.g. due to immaturity of the bones or due to immaturity of oral function. Because of contradictory results, lack of longitudinal and high quality standard studies, the scientific evidence is also to weak to answer the question whether premature birth without or with a history of orotracheal intubation and orogastric feeding causes permanent alteration of orofacial development. The aim of the present study, therefore is to investigate in consideration of perinatal, biometrical, nutritional, functional and parental parameters.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate hemoglobin (Hgb) measurement by Masimo-developed pulse co-oximetry in pediatric patients weighing less than 3 kilograms (Kg).

The Environmental Factors and Embryonic Development Project was set up to investigate environmental exposures and behavioral factors responsible for embryonic dysplasia and gestational complications in pregnant women.

5D and 2D ultrasounds will be done for pregnant women with macrosomic fetuses to determine estimated fetal weight using hadlock formula. The accuracy of fetal weight obtained by ultrasound will be compared to actual birth weight.