Respiratory outcomes after neonatal prone versus supine positioning following scheduled cesarean delivery: a randomized trial

Race and Ethnicity of Infants Enrolled in Neonatal Clinical Trials: A Systematic Review

Importance

Representativeness of populations within neonatal clinical trials is crucial to moving the field forward. Although racial and ethnic disparities in research inclusion are well documented in other fields, they are poorly described within neonatology.

Objective

To describe the race and ethnicity of infants included in a sample of recent US neonatal clinical trials and the variability in this reporting.

Evidence Review

A systematic search of US neonatal clinical trials entered into Cochrane CENTRAL 2017 to 2021 was conducted. Two individuals performed inclusion determination, data extraction, and quality assessment independently with discrepancies adjudicated by consensus.

Findings

Of 120 studies with 14 479 participants that met the inclusion criteria, 75 (62.5%) included any participant race or ethnicity data. In the studies that reported race and ethnicity, the median (IQR) percentage of participants of each background were 0% (0%-1%) Asian, 26% (9%-42%) Black, 3% (0%-12%) Hispanic, 0% (0%-0%) Indigenous (eg, Alaska Native, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian), 0% (0%-0%) multiple races, 57% (30%-68%) White, and 7% (1%-21%) other race or ethnicity. Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous participants were underrepresented, while White participants were overrepresented compared with a reference sample of the US clinical neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) population from the Vermont Oxford Network. Many participants were labeled as other race or ethnicity without adequate description. There was substantial variability in terms and methods of reporting race and ethnicity data. Geographic representation was heavily skewed toward the Northeast, with nearly one-quarter of states unrepresented.

Conclusions and Relevance

These findings suggest that neonatal research may perpetuate inequities by underrepresenting Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous neonates in clinical trials. Studies varied in documentation of race and ethnicity, and there was regional variation in the sites included. Based on these findings, funders and clinical trialists are advised to consider a 3-point targeted approach to address these issues: prioritize identifying ways to increase diversity in neonatal clinical trial participation, agree on a standardized method to report race and ethnicity among neonatal clinical trial participants, and prioritize the inclusion of participants from all regions of the US in neonatal clinical trials.

Supine versus Prone Position during Delayed Cord Clamping in Infants ≥36 Weeks: A Randomized Trial

OBJECTIVE

 There is no recommendation in the literature on optimal positioning of the newborn immediately at birth during delayed cord clamping. To evaluate if prone positioning on the mother's chest at birth during delayed cord clamping leads to a higher hematocrit at 30 hours of life compared to supine positioning.

STUDY DESIGN

 A randomized unblinded trial comparing prone and supine position of the newborn before umbilical cord clamping. Healthy newborns ≥36 weeks gestational age and born vaginally with cephalic presentation were included. The newborn was randomized to prone or supine position. Umbilical cord clamping was delayed in both groups to 1 minute after birth. The primary outcome was hematocrit at 30 hours of life. As a secondary outcome, cerebral tissue oxygenation (CrSO2) values were compared between both groups by near infrared spectroscopy.

RESULTS

 There was no difference in hematocrit at 30 hours of life between supine and prone positions with a mean at 52 and 53.1, respectively, mean difference -1.1 (95% confidence interval:-2.7, 0.5), p = 0.17. Newborns in supine and prone positions had comparable level of CrSO2 at 30 hours of life with a mean at 84.1 and 82.2, respectively, mean difference 1.9 (-0.2, 4.0), p = 0.07. There was no correlation between hematocrit and CrSO2 at 30 hours of life (r = 0.14).

CONCLUSION

 There was no difference between prone and supine positioning immediately after birth during delayed cord clamping on hematocrit at 30 hours of life. In the absence of clear findings, further studies with assessment of the effect of position on breastfeeding success in the case room, on maternal satisfaction and outcome beyond 30 hours are needed to make adequate recommendations on positioning.

KEY POINTS

· Delayed cord clamping at 60 seconds is recommended at birth, but optimal positioning is unknown.. · A randomized trial was conducted to compare hematocrit at 36 hours of life of prone versus supine position.. · No difference in hematocrit was found in prone versus supine position during delayed cord clamping..