PREMOD2 NIRS Substudy - A Randomized Trial of Cerebral Oxygen Saturation in Infants Randomized to Umbilical Cord Milking or Delayed Cord Clamping

Early hemodynamic effects (within 3 hours of life) of Delayed Cord Clamping compared to Umbilical Cord Milking are still unknown. Four sites experienced in the use of NIRS and who have appropriate data collection equipment in the delivery room (Alberta, Ulm, Cork and San Diego) will obtain and report the physiological changes with UCM and DCC from birth until 24 hours of life. This data will yield the largest available sample of continuously recorded heart rate, cerebral tissue oxygenation, peripheral oxygen saturation, airway pressure, and administered FiO2 to delineate the short term responses to two methods of placental transfusion. In our initial trial we demonstrated increased blood pressure from 3-15 HOL with UCM compared to DCC in premature newborns <32 weeks, but did not show any differences in cerebral oxygenation.