Active clinical trials for "Premature Birth"

All included patients will have their fetal heart rate recording performed with an EDAN F3 fetal monitor that allowed the back up recording of the fetal heart rate beat to beat detection. Fetal heart rate variability analysis will be performed using Matalb® software.

Objective: To study the natural history of normal pregnancy and the most frequent pregnancy complications responsible for the excessive rate of perinatal morbidity and mortality, in order to develop models to predict the occurrence of these complications of pregnancy at the earliest possible time. The study focuses on the prediction of preterm labor with intact membranes, preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PROM), preeclampsia, small for gestational age, gestational diabetes, and fetal death. These complications account for a minimum of $30 billion annually in the US alone. Study population: A cohort of pregnant women seeking care at the prenatal clinic of the Perinatology Research Branch in Detroit, Michigan. Design: A prospective observational cohort study of the natural history of women with a normal pregnancy, a history of adverse outcome, or those with a complication in the index pregnancy; therefore, this study will include nulliparous and parous women. Data will be collected at the time of clinic visits and will include interviews, clinical measurements, and ultrasound studies. We will assemble a biorepository of maternal biological fluids (blood, urine, saliva, cervicovaginal fluid, gingival crevicular fluid, swabs to characterize microbiota, amniotic fluid when a clinically indicated amniocentesis is performed). Placentas will be collected at the time of delivery as well as umbilical blood, and swabs to characterize the neonatal microbiota. We will use a retrospective case control and case-cohort design to generate models for the prediction of the most common pregnancy complications. These models will be developed by classifying obstetrical complications according to clinical presentation and histologic placental lesions. Models will be developed and subsequently validated in an independent cohort. Outcome measures: The goal is to develop sensitive, specific, and parsimonious predictive models to identify the patients at risk for developing complications of pregnancy using a combination of clinical and biological markers (biochemical and biophysical).

Preterm birth continues to be a major public health problem with lasting family and societal repercussions. Despite tremendous research effort, prevention strategies have failed, and the prevalence of preterm birth in the United States reached 12.3% in 2003. Prematurity causes 70% of fetal/neonatal deaths. 11.4% of births are at < 37 weeks' gestation. The rate of prematurity increases dramatically with the number of fetuses - singletons 10%; twins 54.9%; and triplets 93.6%

This observational study aims to monitor the vital sign changes in both mother and baby that occur during kangaroo care in preterm infants and to investigate any potential correlations between maternal measurement values and those of the infant. The purpose of this observational study is to look for a method to track the earliest responses that could, theoretically, be considered as 'social responses' in hopes of providing developmental interventions earlier to at-risk infants.

Preeclampsia is a complication of pregnancy related to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, including fetal growth restriction and perinatal death. Several measures are used or under investigation (low-dose aspirin, low-molecular weight heparin, calcium, folic acid, among others) for the prevention of preeclampsia. Unfortunately, most high-risk women who could benefit from those preventive measures are not identified until late in pregnancy. Recent evidences suggest that the investigators could identify women at risk of developing preeclampsia using a combination of serum and ultrasound biomarkers in the first-trimester of pregnancy. This screening test needs external validation. A first-trimester screening strategy will strengthen clinical research on preeclampsia and will contribute to the development of strategy combining the prediction and prevention of the disease and its related complications.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether early life exposures such as premature birth or exposure to preeclampsia before you are born results in long-term alterations in the cardiovascular system that increase risk of cardiovascular disease development.

The major aim is the follow-up of the highest risk group (< 32 weeks gestation/ < 1500 birthweight) and their controls of the Bavarian Longitudinal Study (BLS) at the age of 24-27 years. The focus will be the identification of risk, protective and resiliency factors for cognitive and behavioural development and quality of life. MRIs of the central nervous system will be conducted to examine aberrant activation patterns during the "attention network task" in stratified subgroups. Data driven MRI methods will be evaluated in relation to clinical, behavioural and developmental parameters.

The goal of IMPROV is to identify molecular mechanisms that contribute to lung injury and long-term breathing problems in preterm infants by investigating two interrelated biochemical pathways: the urea cycle-nitric oxide pathway and the glutathione pathway. The investigators hypothesize that prematurity-related limitations in the function of these important biochemical pathways contribute to respiratory disease risk over the first year of life.

To study concentrations of choline, its metabolites, and phospholipids in cord blood and remnants of clinically indicated blood samples

The investigators will collect daily faecal samples from premature (<32 weeks) infants in the intensive care unit from the day of birth until they are discharged. By using newly developed molecular detection techniques the investigators aim to define more precisely than has ever previously been attempted, all the species of bacteria present in the faeces. This will enable comparison of the pre-morbid and post-morbid intestinal microbiota (all the bacteria in the gut) in premature neonates.