Active clinical trials for "Premature Birth"

The purpose is to investigate whether non-invasive acupuncture - NIA (i.e. acupuncture without needles) will help reduce pain for babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) during their routine weekly eye-exam for Retinopathy of prematurity. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is an eye disease most commonly affecting premature babies born weighing less than 1250 grams. Retinopathy of prematurity occurs because these premature babies require oxygen because of their immature lungs. The oxygen then stimulates the growth of blood vessels in the retina, causing the retina to be detached from the eye, which causes vision impairment. To examine if the vessels grow at the back of the eye, an eye-doctor visits bi-weekly once the baby is 32 weeks corrected age to assess if the blood vessels change. If there is a lot of growth, the eye-doctor would use a laser to treat the eye to prevent further growth. During the bi-weekly eye-exam, the premature infant receives sucrose (a type of sugar) for pain management. The investigator will assess pain a premature babies experience during this exam and found that there are extremely high scores of pain despite sucrose and the investigator believe this pain and stress caused by these procedures could be reduced by adding: Magnetic Acupuncture Also, untreated pain causes stress (lower oxygen levels, higher heart rates), discomfort and poorer long term outcomes. Finding the best treatment and prevention for the pain caused by procedures in the NICU is therefore extremely important for any baby.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of continuous positive airway pressure and nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation on breathing pattern variables of very low birth weight neonates immediately after extubation.

Although screening exams for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) prevent blindness they are physiologically stressful for infants. The investigators postulate that photosensitivity during mydriasis contributes to post-examination stress and that reducing light stimulation with a phototherapy mask can make infants more comfortable. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of a phototherapy mask worn during mydriasis on infant stress in the 12 hour period following ROP screening.

This study compares a fifteen second sustained inflation (SI) to five repeated two - three second 'inflation breaths' during resuscitation at delivery of infants born prematurely.

Aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of vented base bottles on respiration-swallow patterns and on gastroesophageal refluxes in preterm infants with clinical suspect of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In this crossover-randomized study, we compared the effects of standard feeding bottles (A) versus vented base feeding bottles (B) on a group of patients with at least 2 clinical GERD symptoms. 24 hours of synchronized cardiorespiratory (CR) and Esophageal Multichannel intraluminal impedance (MII/pH) monitoring were evaluated for each patient. During this period, patients were fed alternatively with feeding bottle A and B.

Preterm birth (PB) continues to be the main cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality, with emotional and economic consequences. Despite improvements in health, PB prevalence remains stable, possibly due to complex causes such as maternal age, stress, multiparity, etc. Shortening of the uterine cervix in early stages of gestation is a risk factor for PB. The presence of abnormal vaginal microbiota in the early stages of pregnancy is als a risk factor for PB. However, no studies have analysed the impact of probiotics (live microorganisms which, in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host) on the PB in high-risk PB patients (pregnant women with threatened preterm delivery, i.e., uterine contractions and cervical shortening, with a 30% PB risk before 34 weeks, and 50% PB prior to 37 weeks (> 6-10% PB). Similarly, the effect of probiotics on vaginal flora dominated by lactic acid-producing bacteria could be analysed.

An open label, randomized, two-period, crossover, study to compare the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of single dose Dexamethasone and Betamethasone administered orally and intramuscularly in 48 healthy, adult, female subjects under fasting conditions. This study is being conducted in Bangalore, India.

This study evaluate the effect of two different doses of vitamin D on T-regulatory cells in preterm infants. Half of the subjects receives 400 IU vitamin D and the other half receives 800 IU vitamin D.

To investigate the effect of umbilical cord milking (UCM) on peripheral hematologic parameters including hematopoietic progenitor cells in premature infants ≤ 34 weeks gestational age with placental insufficiency. We hypothesize that UCM would enhance peripheral CD34 concentration, hemoglobin and reduce prematurity complications like NEC and IVH in preterm infant ≤ 34 week gestational age with placental insufficiency.

The hypothesis of this study is that early physical therapy intervention, initiated during the NICU stay and up to 2 months corrected age, based on the family-centered model, could promote preterm infants motor development in short-term (2 months corrected age) and long-term (8 months corrected age). There is a high evidence level of different systematic reviews, which support the effectivity of early intervention with preterm infants. The principal aim of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of early physiotherapy intervention to promote motor development in preterm infants at 2 and 8 months corrected age. The secondary purpose is to study the motor development of those preterm infants who received early physical therapy intervention.