Preterm birth
About this PSP
This PSP was started as a result of a project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The PSP was part of a wider research programme called 'Improving quality of care and outcome at very preterm birth'. The project was managed by the Social Research Science Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London.
Peri-natal and neonatal interventions were included, although prevention was excluded. 386 people responded to the initial PSP survey, submitting 593 questions for the PSP to review.
The Preterm Birth PSP Top 10 was published in June 2014.
Key documents
Top 10 priorities
- Which interventions are most effective to predict or prevent preterm birth?
- How can infection in preterm babies be better prevented?
- Which interventions are most effective to prevent necrotising enterocolitis in premature babies?
- What is the best treatment for lung damage in premature babies?
- What should be included in packages of care to support parents and families / carers when a premature baby is discharged from hospital?
- What is the optimum milk feeding strategy and guidance (including quantity and speed of feeding and use of donor and formula milk) for the best long-term outcomes of premature babies?
- What is the best way to judge whether a premature baby is feeling pain (for example, by their face, behaviours or brain activities)?
- Which treatments are most effective to prevent early onset pre-eclampsia?
- What emotional and practical support improves attachment and bonding, and does the provision of such support improve outcomes for premature babies and their families?
- Which treatments are most effective for preterm premature rupture of membranes?
- When is the best time to clamp the umbilical cord in preterm birth?
- What type of support is most effective at improving breast feeding for premature babies?
- Which interventions are most effective to treat necrotising enterocolitis in premature babies?
- Does specialist antenatal care for women at risk of preterm birth improve outcomes for mother and baby?
- What are the best ways to optimise the environment (such as light and noise) in order to improve outcomes for premature babies?
The following questions were also discussed and put in order of priority at the workshop:
- Is screening in the first trimester effective to help prevent preterm birth?
- Which treatments are effective in preventing spontaneous preterm birth in women with twin and triplet pregnancies, especially in those at high risk of preterm birth?
- How do stress, trauma and physical workload contribute to the risk of preterm birth, are there effective ways to reduce those risks and does modifying those risks alter outcome?
- Is routine transvaginal scanning during pregnancy to detect short cervical length, and treatment, cost effective?
- What guidance and information is most useful for parents at risk of having preterm infants?
- Does screening and treatment for Group B Streptococcus help to prevent preterm birth and neonatal morbidity and mortality?
- What is the impact of length of orogastric / nasogastric feeding and reflux on early feeding development in preterm infants?
- What methods are most effective to predict risk of preterm birth in order to allocate service provision?
- Can screening of the placenta be effective to detect placenta abnormalities associated with preterm birth?
- What is the best way to encourage Kangaroo Mother Care more by staff in NICU for parents?
- What treatments can predict reliably the likelihood of subsequent infants being preterm?
- Do parents of preterm infants benefit from an open approach to notes and ward rounds?
- Do preterm babies have better outcomes if their parents have roomed in?
- Which lifestyle changes including gym, bed rest, posture and sexual intercourse are effective to minimise the risk of preterm birth?