Active clinical trials for "Premature Birth"

This study is evaluating whether screening of a pregnant woman for asymptomatic bacteriuria in each trimester for early detection and treatment of bacteriuria will reduce the incidence of preterm birth in Harare.

Skin-to-skin care (placing the nappy-clad baby on the mother's bare chest and draping both in a blanket) is known to benefit both baby and mother. Benefits to the baby include warmth, reduced crying, and stabilisation of heart rate, breathing and blood sugar, and promotion of breastfeeding while simultaneously reduces mother's anxiety, improves bonding, and increases breastmilk production. Although these benefits are even more pronounced for preterm, studies show most preterm babies do not receive adequate skin-to-skin care due to fears such as dislodging intravenous lines, ventilation tubes, monitor wires and concerns about safety and privacy. Measures are therefore required to increase maternal confidence and awareness and facilitate skin-to-skin care for preterm infants. SNUBY® (SNUggle baBY) is a purpose-built garment for facilitation of skin-to-skin care in preterm infants. It is made of comfortable, breathable bamboo fabric with an attractive appearance such that it can be worn as a normal garment. In addition, it has distinctive features that allow the baby to be placed in a specially designed pouch, in direct contact with the mother's skin, with supports for lines and tubes that may be attached to the baby. Although many garments are commercially available for mothers to carry babies, no such specially designed garment has ever been tested scientifically and none are specifically designed for preterm babies. In this observational study, the investigators will initially test the feasibility of using the SNUBY® in preterm infants by inviting five mothers-preterm infant pairs, with mother's written informed consent, to use the garment under direct supervision. Following this, the investigators will analyse the safety and acceptability of using it on a larger scale to facilitate skin-to-skin care in preterm babies. The investigators will gather information on the staff and mothers' knowledge of skin-to-skin care and their experience of using SNUBY®.

The investigators intend to establish feasibility/acceptability of a pilot randomized trial comparing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and combined oral contraceptives (COCs) in women with premature ovarian insufficiency to estimate differences in quality of life (QOL) and serum hormone assays and markers of bone turnover/cardiovascular risk. At baseline, QOL survey will be administered and serum testing performed. Patients then randomized to HRT or COCs. Repeat testing will be performed after 3 and 6 months.

One of the challenges of modern neonatology is to identify the right and effective method that can improve oral feeding. Optimal feeding position may contribute to improving the quality and safety of bottle-feeding in premature infants.

The purpose is to assess whether the use of microdrop instillation of phenylephrine 1.67% and tropicamide 0.33% maintains mydriatic efficacy while presents an improved safety profile compared with standard drops of phenylephrine 1.67% and tropicamide 0.33%, which is routine care for pupil dilation during retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening in our neonatal intensive care unit.

The study was planned in a randomized controlled manner in order to evaluate the effect of mother's voice and lullaby on stress and sleep-wake situations of premature babies.

Effects of oral administration of a food supplement constituted by α-lipoic acid, magnesium, vitamin B6 and vitamin D in tablets of 1,2 g administered daily to women presenting risk factors for preterm birth (PTB). The aim is to reduce the rate of short cervix at 19-21 weeks of gestational age and consequently reduce the occurrence of PTB.

Newborns hospitalized with some respiratory problems in the clinic are taken to noninvasive mechanical ventilation support and vascular access is required for some treatments to be applied to these newborns. The presence of nasal cannulas used for noninvasive mechanical ventilation support in newborns causes restlessness, agitation and stress in infants. The uneasiness and stress experienced by babies during vascular access also affects effective vascular access, causing other doses to be delayed or skipped due to treatment doses that are not completed on time. In addition, the pain experienced by babies indirectly affects nurses. It has been reported in many studies that it is effective in reducing the pain experienced by newborns with non-pharmacological methods. Simultaneous white noise will be played and therapeutic touch applied to help touch methods and white noise listening help reduce or control newborns' pain. Many studies have shown that touching to and listening white noise is effective in reducing pain. This study was planned as a randomized controlled experimental study to determine the effect of white noise-accompanied therapeutic touch application on pain level and physiological parameters and noninvasive mechanical ventilation support during peripheral intravenous catheterization in premature infants hospitalized for treatment. Hypothesis 0: The application of therapeutic touch with white noise during peripheral intravenous catheter intervention in premature infants has no effect on the level of pain. Hypothesis 1: White noise-accompanied therapeutic touch application reduces pain level during peripheral intravenous catheter intervention in premature infants. Hypothesis 2: The therapeutic touch application accompanied by white noise during peripheral intravenous catheter intervention in premature infants positively affects physiological parameters.

Accumulating data on early intervention for preterm infants in Western countries have demonstrated short- to medium-term benefits on enhancing child cognitive outcome. Furthermore, the cumulative plasticity of dopamine-related genes may interact with environmental intervention in influencing a child's behavior. However, rare studies have examined the long-term effect of early intervention for preterm infants in Eastern society and whether the genetic markers interact with environmental intervention in shaping child developmental outcomes. To meet the contemporary concept of family-centered intervention and to adapt the findings of our previous studies into program design, we have developed a family-centered intervention program (FCIP) for preterm infants with very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight <1,500 g) in Taiwan and employed a multi-centered, randomized controlled study design to examine its short-term effects with respect to a usual care program (UCP) and its biosocial pathways.The FCIP contained ecologically pervasive child-, parent- and dyad-focused services that lasted from hospitalization until 12 months; the UCP contained child-focused services in hospitalization and phone calls after discharge. This three-year multi-centered study is therefore aimed to extend our research to examine the long-term effectiveness of FCIP on child and parent outcome compared to a usual care program (UCP) for VLBW preterm children in Taiwan at preschool age and to investigate if dopamine-related genes moderate intervention effect on child developmental outcome. A total of 275 ( 269 participants + 6 pilots) VLBW preterm infants have been enrolled and randomly assigned to the FCIP and UCP, and their buccal cells samples have been collected for typing of dopamine-related genes. All infants and families will be examined at 3 and 4 years of age for child and parent outcomes. Child outcomes will include growth, health, cognition, language, motor function, and behavioral measures; parent outcomes will consist of parental stress and quality of life measures. The long-term effect of early intervention for preterm infants will provide important information to help medical/educational professionals and public policy makers develop and assess effective intervention for Taiwanese preterm children who are at risk of developmental disorders. Furthermore, the results will help reveal the gene and intervention interaction on child developmental outcome.

Babies born preterm (before completing 37 weeks in the womb) are at increased risk of long-term disability and death. The investigators do not fully understand the cause(s) of preterm birth but it occurs more frequently when the normal, healthy bacteria (called Lactobacilli) in a woman's birth canal are replaced with unhealthy bacteria. Previous attempts to get rid of the unhealthy bacteria with antibiotics have not shown to affect the risk of preterm birth. The reason for this may be that what is required is the replacement of Lactobacilli in the birth canal. This can be done by asking women to take capsules containing lactobacilli once daily. To study whether oral Lactobacilli capsules compared with dummy capsules can reduce the risk of preterm birth, a large study involving approximately 10,000 women would be required. But the investigators do not know whether women would agree to take part in and complete such a study, and this is what the investigators wish to study in the small, initial study described here. The results of this study will show whether probiotics produce the desired biological effects on vaginal bacteria, and whether it would be feasible to perform the larger, definitive study of their effectiveness in prevention of preterm birth.