MedPath

Comparative Outcomes Related to Delivery-room Cord Milking In Low-resourced Kountries

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy
Birth Asphyxia
Interventions
Other: Umbilical cord milking
Registration Number
NCT03657394
Lead Sponsor
Nemours Children's Clinic
Brief Summary

The investigators will conduct a study on non-vigorous infants at birth to determine if umbilical cord milking (UCM) results in lower rate of moderate to severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) or death than early clamping and for infants who are non-vigorous at birth and need immediate resuscitation.

Detailed Description

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a brain injury caused by inadequate blood flow and oxygen delivery to the neonatal brain. Almost all infants with severe HIE and 30-50% infants with moderate HIE either die or develop significant developmental delay, cerebral palsy or other disabilities.The incidence of HIE is 1-3 per 1,000 term births in developed countries and 15-20 times higher in developing countries (Worldwide, 0.5 to 1 million infants develop HIE each year). Therapeutic hypothermia is the only proven therapy for infants with HIE. Even after receiving therapeutic hypothermia, one-half of all infants with moderate and severe HIE die or develop neurological and functional impairment. Therapeutic hypothermia is not widely available and ineffective in developing nations.There is an urgent need for a new therapy for neonates with HIE, which can complement hypothermia and be readily available in developing nations. Stem cell transplantation is a potential therapy for infants with HIE. Umbilical cord blood is a rich source of stem cells. Umbilical cord milking (UCM) may have similar effect as autologous umbilical cord blood cell transplantation.

Preliminary evidence suggests a placental transfusion in term infants may be a neuroprotective mechanism that can also facilitate cardiovascular transition for neonates depressed at birth and result in decreased mortality and improved neurodevelopmental outcomes. Infants with HIE, due to varied complications during the birth process, have poor perfusion due to fetal blood volume loss to the placenta. However, the most common method of providing placental blood, delayed cord clamping (DCC) cannot be performed since infants with HIE are non-vigorous and providers often need to perform resuscitation immediately after birth. The World Health Organization and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) also does not recommended DCC in neonates who are non-vigorous (limp, pale, and not breathing) at birth and require immediate resuscitation. Umbilical cord milking (UCM) or gently squeezing cord blood toward the baby, is an alternative to DCC, which can achieve significant placental transfusion without delaying resuscitation. Further, UCM can be completed as quickly as immediate cord clamping (ICC) and UCM requires minimal training and no additional staff.

The investigators hypothesized that UCM will reduce the number of infants developing moderate to severe HIE or death in neonates who are non-vigorous at birth compared to early cord clamping (ECC). This will be a cluster crossover randomized controlled trial. Each hospital will be randomly assigned to use either ECC or UCM for any infant who is non-vigorous at birth and needing resuscitation over a period of 6 months. Then the site will change to the other method for an additional 6 months.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
3442
Inclusion Criteria
  • Non-vigorous neonates born between 35-42 weeks
Read More
Exclusion Criteria
  • Congenital malformation of CNS.
  • Chromosomal abnormalities.
  • Major congenital malformations.
  • Abruption/cutting through the placenta at delivery.
  • Umbilical cord knots or inadequate cord length.
  • Mono-chorionic twins or twins with no information on amnion/chorion.
  • Multiple gestation >2 .
Read More

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
CROSSOVER
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Umbilical Cord MilkingUmbilical cord milkingThe delivering practitioner will place the newborn below the level of the incision (at the edge of the table) at C/S and a second team member will milk the cord four times. For vaginal delivery, the delivering obstetrician, midwife or perinatal provider will hold the infant against their body or place the infant on the mother's abdomen and the cord will be milked either four times by the obstetrical provider or by a second team member. For the cord milking procedure, the obstetrical provider will milk 20-30 centimeters length of the umbilical cord over two seconds, repeating three additional times as described previously. This time is not significantly different from the time for ECC.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Moderate to severe HIE or deathFrom date of birth until the date of discharge from the hospital or date of death from any cause, whichever come first, asessed up to 10 weeks.

Number of infants with moderate to severe HIE or death

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
MRI of the brain4 days to 2 weeks

Number of infants with moderate to severe HIE who have abnormal brain MRI

Trial Locations

Locations (9)

Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's Post-Graduate Institute, Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital

🇮🇳

Pune, Maharashtra, India

All India Institute of Medical Science

🇮🇳

Nagpur, MS, India

Government Medical College

🇮🇳

Chandrapur, MS, India

Daga Memorial Woman and Children Hospital

🇮🇳

Nagpur, MS, India

Government Medical College and Hospital

🇮🇳

Nagpur, MS, India

Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences/ Kasturba Hospital

🇮🇳

Wardha, MS, India

Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Medical College

🇮🇳

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research (Deemed-to-be-University) Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College

🇮🇳

Belgaum, Karnataka, India

Indira Gandhi Government Medical College & Hospital

🇮🇳

Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

© Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved by MedPath