Active clinical trials for "Premature Birth"

To see if infant outcomes will improve when mothers are helped to hold their preterm infants skin-to-skin as soon as possible after birth and as often as possible and for as long as possible each time during the next five days.

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of measuring body composition by air displacement plethysmography (ADP) in rapidly growing, medically stable late gestation [32-35 weeks post-menstrual age (PMA)] premature infants.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the growth of the lung and how easily gas can be taken up by the lung in healthy infants born at full term without any breathing problems and infants born prematurely.

This research study is a long-term follow-up to an earlier study of developmental care. For that study, high risk preterm newborns were randomly assigned to a standard care group, which received the standard care offered in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the time, or to an experimental group, which received regular behavioral observations to determine if changes in their environment or care were needed. The purpose of the current study is to assess the functioning of these infants again, now that they are adolescents and to compare the groups to determine if the developmental care used in the original study is effective long-term.

comparison between rate of occurance of apnea of prematurity AOP when using high and low dose caffeine

In this study, the levels of ischemia modified albumin, biglycan and decorin in the serums of pregnant women hospitalized for preterm labor will be examined. Their serum levels will be compared between women having preterm and term delivery. Their accuracy will be asessed in predicting preterm birth.

The purpose of this Quality Improvement initiative is to reduce severe morbidity and mortality among premature infants through proven and cost-effective clinical management during the antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum periods. In order to reduce neonatal mortality and morbidity due to preterm birth complications, health facilities must be able to identify and manage women in preterm labor, accurately administer medications, and provide high-quality postnatal care.

It has not yet been established the optimal dose of vit. D for preterm infants in Poland. It is not known what dose of vit. D will provide the correct concentration of vit. D and the optimal development of the skeleton of the premature. The study will try to determine the optimal supplementation of vitamin D and the supply of Ca and P for normal growth and development of a child born prematurely. In addition, the investigators will evaluate any risk factors for deficiency and excess of vitamin D and the consequences of its deficiency and overdose. Simultaneously the study would make possible the determination of an optimal schedule for controlling the Ca-P levels in the group of the youngest infants born prematurely. In addition, the study will assess the relationship between maternal and newborn vitamin D resources right after birth, and the incidence of vitamin D deficiency in infants born prematurely. Preterm infants will be randomized in 3 groups assigned to different doses of vit. D. The study will investigate the metabolism of calcium, phosphorus, the health of bones and development of the premature babies till the age of 2.

SpO2 instability is in the nature of premature infants. Hypoxic episodes occur spontaneously in many of these infants, especially after the first week of life. Different interventions have been shown to influence the incidence of hypoxemic episodes in premature infants. Premature infants are fed via an NG/OG tube. Feeding length might influence the oxygenation instability among premature infants therefore the aim of this study is to evaluate the changes in oxygenation among preterm infants receiving respiratory support when are fed over 30 min vs over 2 hours, as documented by SpO2 histograms.

Since 1987, red blood cell (RBC) transfusions have been proposed as a potential risk factor for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which is one of the most severe gastrointestinal complications of prematurity. Evidence from Doppler studies have shown a post-transfusion impairment of mesenteric blood flow in response to feeds, whereas NIRS studies have reported transient changes of splanchnic oxygenation after RBC transfusion; a possible role for these findings in increasing the risk for TANEC development has been hypothesized. The aim of this study is to evaluate SrSO2 patterns in response to enteral feeding before and after transfusion.