The neoGASTRIC trial will test whether not routinely measuring gastric residual volumes, compared to routinely measuring them, helps premature babies to get to full milk feeds quicker without more necrotising enterocolitis. The trial will involve babies born more than 6 weeks early and will recruit about 7000 babies across the UK and Australia. www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/neogastric
Active research
WHEAT Trial
WithHolding Enteral feeds Around packed red cell Transfusion to prevent necrotising enterocolitis in preterm neonates: a multi-centre, electronic patient record (EPR), randomised controlled point-of-care pilot trial. https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/wheat
GILD Delphi Process
The GILD study (Glycaemic control in labour with diabetes), which aims to find the best way to conduct a trial for managing blood glucose in labour with diabetes, is currently being run by the University of Nottingham. A Delphi survey is currently underway using an online survey comprised of three rounds, each taking 5-10 minutes to … Read More
Hummingbird Trial
A proposed RCT looking at the impact of using Donor Human Breast Milk vs Formula. The purpose of this study is to find out if there are differences in feeding and growth in preterm (premature) babies that are given donor human milk. Donor human milk is given if there is a shortage in the supply … Read More
DOLFIN Trial
DOLFIN aims to answer the research question: In babies with a brain injury, does nutritional supplementation with a novel nutritional supplement plus usual care from birth to 12 months of age corrected for prematurity improve cognitive development at 2 years of age corrected for prematurity? For more information please visit https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/dolfin
Fluids Exclusively Enteral from Day 1
A randomised controlled trial of full milk feeds versus intravenous nutrition with gradual feeding for preterm infants (30-33 weeks gestational age)
Feeding late and moderately preterm infants
The rates of premature birth are increasing, with most occurring between 32 and 36 weeks gestation, called Late and Moderately PreTerm (LMPT) infants. These babies weigh 1.25-2.5kg at birth and have different nutritional requirements to those born full term. However, most nutrition studies have tended to focus on extremely premature infants (gestation < 32 weeks) and there are few data on growth in LMPT infants.
Interactions between diet and gut microbes in preterm infants
Around 10% of babies are premature (born before 37 weeks), but feeding them is complex. Mothers own breast-milk (MOM) is best and results in better outcomes such as fewer infections, but many mothers do not produce enough milk so either donor human milk (DHM) or a cow’s milk derived formula are used to make up the ‘shortfall’.
SIFT – Speed of Increasing milk Feeds Trial
Very preterm babies are unable to tolerate nutritional volumes of milk without complications so require parenteral nutrition whilst milk feeds are built up. The best speed of increasing these feeds to achieve full milk feeds without causing complications is not yet known and a trial is needed to determine this balance.
WHEAT research trial
The aim of this study is to compare two practices that are widely used in neonatal units across the UK and around the world to see if one reduces the risk of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) in babies born early (premature). NEC is a serious gut disease that affects about 1 in 20 very premature babies (about 500 each year).