Pregnancy Clinical Trials

This is a pragmatic randomized control trial to evaluate the BETTER intervention compared to standard obstetrical care (control) to determine whether it helps to reduce maternal anemia and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. The BETTER intervention includes one motivational interviewing session and bi-weekly text messages to encourage patients to connect with resources that address their social needs, including housing, food, and transportation. Quantitative data will be used to study participant outcomes, including surveys, and electronic health record data. Read Less

Background: The microbiome is the bacteria and other microorganisms that live inside and on the body. The microbiome is important for our health. Researchers study how the microbiome help people stay healthy. They study how the microbiome affects the body when people get sick. To do this research, they need samples of the microbiome living on the bodies of many people. The purpose of this natural history study is to collect microbiome samples in a repository. These samples will be used for future research. Objective: To collect microbiome samples from the body that can be used for future research. Eligibility: People of any age. Only those older than 3 years will be seen at the NIH clinic. Design: Participants will fill out a questionnaire. Topics will include their medical history and foods they eat. Participants will be asked to give 1 or more of the following: Stool, urine, saliva, vaginal fluid, and breastmilk. These samples can be collected at home and sent to the researchers. Cells from participants cheek, nose, mouth, skin, rectum, and/or vagina. The cells may be collected by rubbing the area with a sterile cotton swab. These procedures can also be done at home. Blood. Blood may be drawn using a needle inserted into a vein in the arm. For young children, blood may be collected by a prick on the heel or finger. Intestinal tissue samples. These may be collected from participants who are having an endoscopy or colonoscopy for other reasons. Skin tissue samples. These may be collected from participants who are having biopsies for other reasons. Read Less

The goal of this study is to better understand how the back part of the eye-called the retina and the choroid-changes during pregnancy. Specialized photos of the eye will be taken at three different timepoints: early in pregnancy (first or second trimester), late in pregnancy (third trimester), and after delivery. This imaging is non-invasive and does not require contact with the surface of the eye. The photos taken will allow assessment of specific parameters, like blood flow and the health of specialized cells that support vision. Understanding how the eyes change during pregnancy may help guide how retina specialists understanding of retinal disease during pregnancy and better inform pregnancy outcomes. Read Less

The goal of this proof-of-concept, case-control, clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy of using two newer ultrasound technologies, quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and ultrafast power Doppler imaging (uPDI), to evaluate the health of the placenta, visualize blood flow through the placental vasculature by color Doppler imaging in singleton pregnancies with and without fetal growth restriction (FGR). * Our primary objective is to investigate the ability of using these ultrasound technologies to distinguish healthy pregnancies from those affected by FGR, a condition characterized by a fetal weight below the 10th percentile for the gestational age or abdominal circumference of the pregnancy. * Secondary aims include longitudinal evaluation of differences in QUS and uPDI imaging over gestation and changes in these measures with evolution of utero-placental insufficiency including with the development of abnormal umbilical-artery Doppler testing, diagnosis of severe FGR, identification of stillbirth, and detection of preeclampsia or preterm birth. Investigators will compare QUS/uPDI imaging and values in pregnancies determined to be healthy by approved, standard-of-care growth ultrasounds to those diagnosed with FGR. Participants will receive research ultrasounds with the experimental Verasonics Vantage 256 system (Verasonics, Inc, Kirkland, WA) utilizing uPDI/QUS every three weeks following their routine growth ultrasound evaluation until delivery. Demographic, obstetric, and delivery-related information, as well as portions of subjects' past medical history will be utilized by researchers to further contextualize imaging and variables gathered during the research ultrasounds. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to see if the enhanced HMZ 2.0 intervention with new control system/digital platform to regulate gestational weight gain (GWG) and impact maternal-infant outcomes while collecting implementation data works and can be given to other pregnant women in various settings. The question this study aims to answer are: 1. Does the new intervention manage GWG? 2. Does the new intervention have any influence on sleep and eating behaviors and infant outcomes. 3. Does the new platform and other data collected help inform how well the research and information can be used in health care settings? 144 pregnant women with overweight/obesity will be randomized to either the HMZ 2.0 intervention or attention control groups from \~8-36 weeks gestation. All participants will be asked to: 1. Weight themselves and wear an activity monitor each day over the study. 2. Complete online surveys at either a weekly or monthly level about their thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors on GWG, physical activity, eating behaviors, sleep, their anxiety, depression, and stress. 3. Attend weekly sessions with a registered dietician. The weekly sessions will differ based on intervention group. The HMZ 2.0 intervention group will receive education, create and follow goal-setting and action plans, self-monitor their behaviors, and receive feature evidence and fetal growth facts. Education, goals, and self-monitoring will focus on GWG, physical activity, eating behaviors, sleep, self-regulating behaviors and emotions, and preparing for labor/delivery and postpartum. The attention control group will receive weekly sessions on preparing for labor/delivery and benefits of behavioral pain management strategies (e.g., mindfulness-based relaxation, imagery, music, massage, deep-breathing) to help with pain after childbirth without medicine. Read Less

This study will recruit 20 women who are high risk for prenatal cannabis use for a 12-week program of using the tracker and receiving a Lifestyle Physical Activity program. The primary outcomes will be self reported percent days of cannabis use and physical activity. Secondary outcomes include self -reported measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, adaptive coping, and self-efficacy for cannabis abstinence. Read Less

The goal of this project is to utilize stable isotopically labeled vitamin D3 and state of the art mass spectrometric methodology to assess vitamin D dynamics during pregnancy in relation to relation to obesity and vitamin D binding protein genotype. At the conclusion of this study, the investigators will have obtained novel information on the absorption and utilization of vitamin D in women and the degree to which vitamin D utilization during pregnancy is impacted by genetic ancestry, vitamin D binding protein concentration and genotype and by excess adiposity. The long-term goal is to better understand the unique metabolism of vitamin D during pregnancy. Read Less

This is a randomized controlled trial examining whether the use of misoprostol or pitocin, in combination with a foley catheter, is more effective at inducing labor in patients with a gravid BMI that is considered obese. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to evaluate pregnancy-related health outcomes in participants who are exposed to Epidiolex/Epidyolex during pregnancy and their infant up to 12 months of life. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to assess whether patient-selected visual art for patients admitted to the antepartum unit will increase hospital satisfaction compared to routine care. Read Less

Maternal Fetal Monitoring devices assist the health care professional in acquiring, monitoring, and storing fetal and maternal physiologic data which support clinical decision making for pregnant women and assesses the overall fetal health status during pregnancy and delivery. This study aims to support a new maternal fetal monitoring device with clinical data by collecting simultaneous, continuous, external, distinguishable FHRs from twin pregnancies using ultrasound Doppler transducers from the new maternal fetal monitoring investigational device and a marketed ultrasound imaging device. Read Less

Detailed Description The doula-led intervention developed during the first phase of this project will be pilot tested for feasibility. Following the recruitment procedures described in the recruitment and retention plan, approximately 75 participants will be enrolled into the study. Twenty-five of the participants will receive regular doula care and 25 of the participants will receive care from a doula trained in the PMAD doula training throughout their pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum time period, following the intervention procedures developed in Aim 2 of this study. Twenty-five women will not receive care from a doula and will receive perinatal care as usual. Women in all groups will take surveys via REDCap during their enrollment in the intervention, at 1 month postpartum, 3 months, and 6 months postpartum (at the conclusion of the intervention). All participants who receive the PMAD doula intervention will complete checklists after each session with their doula, to assess fidelity to the intervention. Participant communication with their doula via patient notebook will also be assessed for fidelity to the intervention. Read Less