Active clinical trials for "Fetal Hypoxia"

Back and right-sided sleeping position in pregnant women has recently emerged as a potential risk factor for low birthweight (LBW) and stillbirth (SB) in the medical literature. Assuming that sleep position in pregnant women is modifiable, the same literature has indicated that this risk factor is modifiable; however, there is no evidence that this risk factor is truly modifiable. The proposed link between back and right-sided sleeping position in a pregnant woman and LBW and SB of her baby is multifactorial; however, it ultimately implicates the woman's body position in causing compression of one of the large veins that brings blood back to her heart. This compression, along with other factors relating to the woman, her placenta, and her developing fetus, may result in decreased blood flow (nutrition and oxygen) to her developing baby, which, depending on the extent and duration, could result in LBW or SB of her baby. If the back sleeping position during pregnancy has a causative role in LBW and subsequently SB, the literature indicates that up to 17% of LBW and consequently 26% of SB could potentially be prevented by changing position to avoid back sleep. Note that 20 million LBW and 2.6 million SB occur each year worldwide. Positional therapy (PT) is a safe and effective intervention for preventing people who snore or people who's breathing pauses during sleep from sleeping on their back - a position that makes their condition worse. The most basic form of PT modifies a person's sleeping position by either: Preventing them from sleeping on their back through restricting their movement, or Rather than restricting movement, significantly reducing the amount of time they spend sleeping on their back by applying pressure points to their body while they are on their back, which eventually causes them to shift into a different position and avoid lying on their back. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ability of a PT intervention to modify the position of pregnant women from their back and right side to their left side while they sleep in late pregnancy. This study will help determine whether this potential risk factor is modifiable by way of a PT intervention, and whether it is feasible to intervene to reduce or prevent back and right-sided position sleep in late pregnancy. Demonstrating that the sleeping position of pregnant women can be modified through use of a simple, inexpensive PT intervention may be one of the keys to achieving significant reductions in LBW and late SB rates in Canada and worldwide.

This is a prospective clinical trial involving the use of the FDA-cleared Fetal ECG tracing in labor with the AN24 (Fetal Monitoring device marketed by Monica Healthcare) to the Novii (a newer device also created by Monica Healthcare) using the same technology with different monitor placement.

The investigators want to compare the safety and efficacy between the combined spinal-epidural analgesia and epidural analgesia during labor.

A former study (submitted) in 32 severely asphyxiated infants participating in a randomized double blind study, in which early postnatal allopurinol or a placebo (within 4 hours after birth) was administered to reduce free radical formation and consequently reperfusion/reoxygenation injury to the newborn brain, showed an unaltered high mortality and no clinically relevant improvement in morbidity in infants treated with allopurinol. It was hypothesized that postnatal allopurinol treatment started too late to reduce reperfusion-induced free radical surge and that initiating allopurinol treatment of the fetus with (imminent) hypoxia already via the mother during labor will be more effective to reduce free radical-induced post-asphyxial brain damage.

The fetal heart plays a central role in the adaptive mechanisms for hypoxemia and placental insufficiency. Longitudinal data on the hemodynamic sequence of the natural history of fetal growth restriction show that the umbilical artery and middle cerebral artery are the first variables to become abnormal . These arterial Doppler abnormalities are followed by abnormalities in the right cardiac diastolic indices, followed by the right cardiac systolic indices, and finally by both left diastolic and systolic cardiac indices . Preserving the left systolic function as the last variable to become abnormal ensures an adequate left ventricular output , which supplies the cerebral and coronary circulations.This defence is contingent on the fetal cardiovascular system, which in late gestation adopts strategies to decrease oxygen consumption and redistribute the cardiac output away from peripheral vascular beds and towards essential circulations, such as those perfusing the brain. Adding cardiac Doppler may improve management of the IUGR fetus(intrauterine growth retardation), Doppler ultrasound is valuable in defining the degree of cardiovascular compromise in at-risk pregnancies. The severity of fetal blood flow redistribution shows the degree of fetal adaptation and provides information on how long the pregnancy can be continued safely. The aime of the study is assessment of cardiac output redistribution in fetal hypoxia by estimating relative right to left side cardiac output wich reflect cardiac sparing in (IUGR).

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is one of the major contributors to perinatal mortality and morbidity and is characterized by complex hemodynamic changes involving placental and fetal arterial, cardiac and venous circulations .However, the temporal sequence of these modifications in relation to other hemodynamic changes of the fetal arterial and venous circulations is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate cardiac function and other hemodynamic changes in a group of fetuses with IUGR and clinical impact on perinatal outcome .

The purpose of this study is to compare lactate and total acid-base status in fetal scalp blood with lactate and total acid-base status in maternal blood and amniotic fluids to provide information on how lactate and base deficit correlates with scalp samples. Furthermore, the investigators want to study whether angiogenic factors in fluids above may be a possible marker of asphyxia during labor.

Cardiotocography (CTG) is widely used during labour wards in industrialised countries and consists of fetal heart rate and uterine contraction monitoring. The main aim is to identify fetuses that are being poorly oxygenated during labour and require medical intervention to revert the situation or expedite delivery. The need for technical development of CTG is well-recognized, as some of the existing techniques are prone to signal loss and contamination from the maternal heart rate, while others are invasive and have established contra-indications. They also limit maternal mobilisation, contributing to maternal dissatisfaction, and possibly to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. New techniques for CTG acquisition will shortly be made available by a leading technological company, providing non-invasive monitoring and allowing full maternal mobilisation, and with the potential to change the way labour is conducted in high-resource countries. There is a need for a systematic evaluation of their clinical performance and benefit.