Premature Birth Clinical Trials

Pacific Islanders residing in the United States (US) have disproportionally high rates of preterm birth (\<37 weeks) and low birthweight infants (\<2,500 grams). They are also more likely to experience preeclampsia, primary cesarean birth, excessive gestational weight gain, and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared to other racial/ethnic minorities. These maternal health factors serve as precursors to maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Pacific Islanders have almost twice the infant mortality rate, per 1,000 live births, as compared to non-Hispanic whites and have a higher maternal mortality rate compared to the same group (13.5 verse 12.7). Early and consistent supportive care throughout the pregnancy continuum is strongly associated with positive birth outcomes, including infant and maternal morbidity and mortality, and is a US health priority. Emerging literature suggests that group-based prenatal programs, like Centering Pregnancy, coupled with care navigation, can mitigate precursors to severe morbidity and mortality. The proposed study will determine the feasibility of Centering Pregnancy with care navigation and the preliminary effectiveness to improve: prenatal and postpartum care appointment attendance, preterm birth, low-birth weight infants, cesarean deliveries, emergency department visits, and access to social support services. Investigators will use a mixed-method approach with two groups of Marshallese participants (propensity score matched on relevant covariates such as maternal age, parity, and sociodemographics), one group in Centering Pregnancy with care navigation and one group from standard prenatal care. Read Less

This is a randomized comparative effectiveness study of two forms of enhanced prenatal care among 657 Medi-Cal eligible pregnant individuals in Fresno, California. The goal is to see whether group prenatal care with wrap around services versus individual prenatal care supplemented by services covered by the California Department of Public Health Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program (CPSP) results in less depression and anxiety, and more respectful, more person-centered maternity care and lower rates of preterm birth. Read Less

Premature infants have high rates of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) due to prematurity of the participants' lungs and the need for prolonged respiratory support. These infants are at increased risk for gastroesophageal reflux and aspiration which may exacerbate lung injury. Transpyloric feeds, specifically duodenal feeds, may be used to bypass the stomach and directly feed the duodenum decreasing the amount of gastric reflux contributing to aspiration. Duodenal feeds are equivalent to gastric feeds with regards to nutritional outcomes, and have been shown to decrease events of apnea and bradycardia in premature infants. This study will evaluate the feasibility and safety of duodenal feeds in premature infants. The hypothesis is that duodenal feeds may be safely and successfully performed in premature very low birth weight infants. Read Less

Investigators aim to improve the skills of premature or sick term infants in breastfeeding by boosting motor learning with transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation. Investigators will recruit 10 premature, ≥ 35 weeks gestational age, or convalescing sick term infants admitted to the NICU at MUSC to participate in this study. Infants will receive taVNS treatments once a day with breastfeeding's for up to 14 days. Before each treatment, the researcher will determine how much electrical stimulation is needed for the infant to feel a slight tingle without discomfort, and during daily treatment paired with breastfeeding the infant will continue to receive this level of electrical stimulation, coinciding with latching and sucking, repeated over the duration of the feed. Investigators will collect information about the pre- and post-feed weights, the length of time for each feed, and observations of latch, suck, and swallow techniques by the infant from parents and the lactation consultant. Investigators will also evaluate parental satisfaction associated with their infant's ability to breastfeed after taVNS by providing parental satisfaction surveys at the beginning, after 1 and 2 weeks, and at 3 months after the end of the study to assess infants' progress in and maintenance of breastfeeding abilities. If the pairing of breastfeeding with taVNS is able to result in improved outcomes of effective breastfeeding in infants in the neonatal intensive care units, this intervention could be further utilized by NICUs to increase the rate of premature and sick term infants who are successfully able to breastfeed at the time of discharge and maintain breast feeding longer after discharge. This would allow premature infants to acquire the many benefits of breastmilk as well as contribute towards the strengthening of the maternal-infant bond that breastfeeding has been shown to enhance. Read Less

The goal of this clinical study is to test a new, novel medical device designed to improve speech sound differentiation among hospitalized preterm infants. The device is designed to be used at an age equivalent to 32 weeks of gestation or older and to integrate readily into clinical practice for use by nurses and therapists staffing Level II to Level IV NICUs. Preterm born infants are at high risk for neurosensory impairments and developmental delays. In the NICU, infants are often deprived of infant-directed parental speech because of numerous challenges to parental visitation, resulting in reduced differentiation of speech sounds, altered brain structure and poor language outcomes. The study will explore the effectiveness of a novel medical device designed for infant learning through contingent sucking on a pacifier equipped with a sensor for suck pressure/timing, connected to a speaker that delivers mother's voice. The study will test the hypothesis that there will be a greater response difference between speech sounds on EEG, for infants receiving the suck-contingent mother's voice intervention than for infants hearing the same amount of non-contingent mother's voice from a speaker device. Read Less

Prematurely born children are at higher risk of cognitive impairments and behavioral disorders than full-term children. There is growing evidence of significant volumetric and shape abnormalities in subcortical structures of premature neonates, which may be associated to negative long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. The general objective is to look directly at the long-term neurodevelopmental implications of these neonatal subcortical structures abnormalities. Investigators propose to develop biomarkers of prematurity by comparing the morphological and diffusion properties of subcortical structures between preterm, with and without associated brain injuries, and full-term neonates using brain MRI. By combining subcortical morphological and diffusion properties, investigators hypothesize to be able to: (1) delineate specific correlative relationships between structures regionally and differentially affected by normal maturation and different patterns of white matter injury, and (2) improve the specificity of neuroimaging to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes earlier. The specific aims and general methodology are: 1) Build a new toolbox for neonatal subcortical structures analyses that combine a group lasso-based analysis of significant regions of shape changes, a structural correlation network analysis, a neonatal tractography, and tensor-based analysis on tracts; 2) Ascertain biomarkers of prematurity in neonates with different patterns of abnormalities using correlational and connectivity analysis within and between structures features; 3) Assess the predictive potential of subcortical imaging on neurodevelopmental outcomes by correlating neonatal imaging results with long-term neurodevelopmental scores at 9 and 18 months, and 6-8 years, follow-up. In each of these aims, investigators will use advanced neuroimaging analysis developed by their group and collaborator, including multivariate tensor-based morphometry and multivariate tract-based analysis. This application will provide the first complete subcortical network analysis in both term and preterm neonates. In the first study of its kind for prematurity, investigators will use sparse and multi-task learning to determine which of the biomarkers of prematurity at birth are the best predictors of long-term outcome. Once implemented, these methods will be available to compare subcortical structures for other pathologies in newborns and children. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to explore the question: Does prophylactic administration of exogenous surfactant in the delivery room, using a minimally-invasive technique, improve outcome in preterm infants 22-29 weeks' gestation compared to rescue treatment using the same technique? Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine whether cervical cerclage reduces the risk of preterm birth in patients with a short transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) cervical length (CL) ≤25mm between 24 0/7-26 6/7 weeks. Read Less

Investigators hypothesize that premature newborns with poor cardiopulmonary performance have higher morbidities and poorer physical and cognitive developmental outcomes. Investigators further hypothesize that audible sounds combined with novel inaudible vibrations above and below human perception interpreted with transparent and auditable AI algorithms can detect and identify early gas and fluid movement anomalies not uncovered by conventional tools in an non-invasive, easy, fast, and low cost examination. Read Less

This study is an evaluation of the Fresh Rx: Nourishing Healthy Starts program administered by Operation Food Search, a St. Louis-based nonprofit organization. The program provides food and nutrition supports to food insecure pregnant women in conjunction with integrative care services in order to improve health and birth outcomes for both the mother and the child. The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of this approach through a field experiment, and to assess the extent to which these services can provide cost savings to the healthcare system. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that allowing infants that require high flow nasal cannula (HFNC)/Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to orally feed if demonstrating oral cues will achieve full oral feeds faster. Read Less

Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM) before 37 weeks of pregnancy is responsible for 40% of preterm births in the United States. The PPROM Registry aims to identify possible causes of PPROM, evaluate trends in expectant management, measure maternal and fetal care, and to review short term and long term outcomes of affected pregnancies and births. Read Less