Active clinical trials for "Premature Birth"

Preterm birth rate is 7.2% in Quebec, it's risen worldwide in the past decade and it's the leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity. Preterm birth is a major public health problem. Preterm labor leading to preterm birth is difficult to diagnose and prediction of preterm birth is a medical challenge. In the past years, research found that transvaginal ultrasound to assess the cervix of the uterus and vaginal detection of inflammatory protein, specific bacteria and fetal fibronectin can help to detect women at increase risk of preterm delivery. The investigators believe that a combination of these tests can lead to a better prediction of preterm delivery. The investigators want to conduct a study among women judged at increase risk of preterm delivery by their physician (having contractions, modified cervix, past-history of preterm delivery or multiple pregnancy) and assess their cervix by ultrasound and sample their vaginal secretion. The investigators want to analyze the vaginal sampling and look for inflammatory proteins. The objective of this study is to prove the feasibility of this assessment method and elaborate a better predictive test that the investigators can easily use in obstetrics clinics and hospitals.

The purpose of this study is to provide access to intravitreal injection of Avastin in high-risk infants who do not otherwise qualify for study NCT00702819, an investigational multi-site study examining Avastin use for retinopathy of prematurity.

Retinopathy of prematurity screening is painful. Wide field digital retinal imaging (WFDRI) and binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy (BIO) are being used for screening examinations. The aim of Edinburgh, UK based study is to compare the pain experienced by infants using both examination techniques.

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.

The purpose of this study is to see how full-term and pre-term infants' brains relate to their movement and development throughout the first two years of life. All infants who participate in this study will have a magnetic resonance image (MRI) of the brain prior to discharge from the hospital. Infants will then have follow-up appointments every 3-6 months at home or at the Infant Motor Behavior Laboratory at the University of Delaware. The follow-up sessions will test how infants change their movements to respond to interesting objects or sounds in their environment. It is hoped that the results of this study will assist clinicians in developing better testing and treatment methods for those infants at risk for developmental problems.

Although several studies have contrasted the hemodynamics of cerebral arteries using cranial Doppler ultrasound between full-term and preterm infants, the assessments were mostly conducted in the first days of life. Furthermore, the clinically significant hemodynamic parameter has been established from a small sample of infants that its validity on other populations remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study is twofold: to examine the hemodynamics of cerebral arteries in full-term and very low birth weight preterm infants at term age to assess the validity of the hemodynamic parameters in relation to concurrent neurobehavioral function. This study will enroll normal full-term infants and very low birth weight preterm infants who have no major neonatal disease. Cranial Doppler ultrasound examination will be performed on all infants at term age. Hemodynamic parameters will include peak systolic velocity, end diastolic velocity, resistance index and pulsatility index for the bilateral anterior cerebral arteries and middle cerebral arteries. Neurobehavioral development will be administered on the same day using the Neonatal Neurobehavioral Examination- Chinese version.

Kangaroo holding is a skin-to-skin method of holding a baby. Many research studies have investigated the maternal and infant benefits associated with kangaroo holding. The purpose of this study is to determine if kangaroo holding a baby changes the amount and composition of breast milk pumped before and after the kangaroo holding session. Hypotheses: There is a significant difference in volume of maternal breast milk pumped after kangaroo holding premature infants as compared to maternal breast milk pumped after non-holding conditions There is a significant difference in the composition of maternal breast milk pumped after kangaroo holding premature infants as compared to maternal breast milk pumped after non-holding condition.

To date, there is a paucity of research focusing on maternal breastfeeding goals, how these goals may change after an unexpected event such as a preterm birth, and how mothers of ill and preterm infants define breastfeeding success. No studies were identified that focused exclusively on the breastfeeding goals of mothers of hospitalized preterm infants The purpose of this study is to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the breastfeeding goals of mothers with preterm infants in the NICU? and 2) What are mothers' perceptions of facilitators and barriers to meeting their breastfeeding goals in the NICU?

A major goal of perinatal care is to accurately diagnose fetal anomalies prior to birth. This capability allows clinicians to make prudent decisions regarding antepartum care, delivery site, and postnatal therapy. Three-dimensional ultrasound is a recent technology that provides a new way to evaluate the fetus. This technique allows one to scan through a digital ultrasound volume dataset, visualize organs from different perspectives, measure volumes, and render anatomical features through computer processing. However, the accurate characterization of fetal anomalies by this technique must be interpreted in relation to normal fetal anatomy at different stages of pregnancy. We are continuing to develop an image reference library of fetal anatomy by identifying key diagnostic features by three-dimensional ultrasound. A cross-sectional observational study of up to 1,400 fetuses will catalog a broad spectrum of congenital malformations at various gestational ages. The protocol will include up to 400 examples of normal fetal anatomy by three-dimensional ultrasonography. All cases will be placed into a digital image database. For each anomaly category, volume reconstructions will be compared to normal anatomy at specific gestational ages. Key diagnostic findings will be documented and correlated with postnatal outcome. We anticipate that our results will permit improved diagnostic interpretation of congenital defects throughout pregnancy.

This observational study evaluated the performance of new lab tests in detecting candida species fungal infections in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants quickly and accurately. 19 NICHD Neonatal Research Network sites enrolled 1,500 infants with birth weights ≤1,000g; 100 of these infants later tested positive for candidiasis. Blood, urine, and lumbar puncture samples were collected whenever other specimens were obtained from participants for cultures. These samples are being tested using the new methods and compared with standard culture results. Surviving study subjects completed a neurodevelopmental evaluation at 18-22 months corrected age.