Press release UK Dresden: Optimal care for preterm babies starts in the delivery room, by keeping the umbilical cord intact

[Rianne Rotink]

• University Hospital Dresden is pioneer in the care of extremely immature preterm infants.
• Innovative birth trolley enables care of preterm newborns close to mom.
• For the first time in Germany, a multidisciplinary team stabilized a preterm baby with an intact umbilical cord, with the Concord Birth Trolley.
• University Hospital Dresden is the first hospital in Germany to stabilize preterm babies with an intact umbilical cord on the Concord Birth Trolley.

At the Center for feto/neonatal Health at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, a preterm baby has been supported on a new type of birth trolley for the very first time. Throughout Germany this is the first use of the new birth trolley in clinical practice, it is already being used in The Netherlands and Austria. The trolley called “Concord Birth Trolley”, enables the caregiver to provide necessary medical support for preterm infants immediately after birth, close to mom, with the umbilical cord intact. Center Director Prof. Mario Rüdiger explains: “With this important milestone, our Center for feto/neonatal Health is pioneering care of premature infants. We are very proud to be the first Center in Germany to implement this new method of care, giving premature infants a more gentle start in life.” Maira was born on March 19 together with her brother Avik, in the 34^th week of pregnancy. Both children are now being cared for at the Children's Hospital at the University Hospital. Since the boy was the first to be born during the cesarean section, he was stabilized in the room next to the delivery room. The doctors stabilized Maira on the "Concord Birth Trolley" close to her mother before cutting the umbilical cord.

The umbilical cord connects the unborn baby with its mother and, among other things, provides the baby with essential oxygen. After birth, the newborn baby is depending on itself and needs to breathe on its own. In a normal birth, the umbilical cord is clamped and cut after the newborn baby has taken its first breaths. For preterm newborns, following this procedure is more difficult. Because of their immaturity, these baby’s often require support. Sufficient spontaneous breathing efforts usually start only after a few minutes. Today most of these newborns are born via caesarean section with the umbilical cord cut immediately after birth, cutting off the essential supply of oxygen via the umbilical cord in the first critical minutes of life. This is associated with a higher risk of complications and long term injury.

With this improved primary care in the delivery room, caregivers now hope to minimize, or even prevent, complications and long term injury. This assumption is based on results of several clinical trials, that have been presented at the annual international Symposium in Dresden, organized by the Center for feto/neonatal Health. With the Concord Birth Trolley, it should be possible to cut the umbilical cord of the premature infant, only after he or she is breathing adequately on his or her own.

Transferring this new scientific insight into clinical practice has been challenging until now. A multidisciplinary team, led by Prof. Arjan te Pas, a long term cooperation partner of the Center for feto/neonatal Health, has developed the special birth trolley at Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands, enabling caregivers to provide necessary care immediately after birth with the umbilical cord still connected to mother.  The new CE certified “Concord Birth Trolley” (con – “with”, cord – “umbilical cord”), was launched in 2019, at the annual international Symposium in Dresden, by the startup company Concord Neonatal, and was successfully implemented in 8 Dutch Hospitals last year, in the primary care of prematurely born infants. “Our cooperation partner in Leiden is excited about this new method of care and its benefits for preterm infants and their parents. For this reason we are eager to offer the advantages of the Concord Birth Trolley in Dresden, and implement this new workflow in clinical practice.” says Prof. Mario Rüdiger, Director of the Center for feto/neonatal Health. The University Hospital in Dresden is the first hospital in Germany to offer this new method of care for preterm infants with the Concord Birth Trolley.

On March 19, the first baby was successfully supported on the trolley: the little girl Maira was born in the 34th week of pregnancy with a weight of 1975 grams. During the delivery of the twins by cesarean section, mom Soni Singh first gave birth to a boy. Maira's brother Avik weighed 2040 grams and was stabilized in the room next to the delivery room. Maira, on the other hand, was stabilized by the doctors on the Concord Birth Trolley, close to her mother, with the umbilical cord intact. The C-section in the 34th week of pregnancy was necessary because the children were no longer receiving sufficient support in their mother's womb.

Prof. Michael Albrecht, Chairman of the Board at the University Hospital explains: “This new procedure is a milestone in perinatal medicine. This innovative infrastructure enables the interdisciplinary care team to  also give immature preterm babies an optimal start in life. Dresden has been a pioneer in interdisciplinary medicine. This started with the innovatively designed Women’s and Children’s Center, in which the Obstetrics and the Children’s Hospital are located next to each other. Based on this cooperation, expertise has been built up in the past 20 years, which formed the foundation of the leading role of our medical university in the field of feto-neonatal medicine.” Ten percent of all children in Germany are born prematurely, before the 37^th week of pregnancy. Around one percent of pregnancies even end before the 32^nd week. Caregivers call this extreme premature birth. These newborns often weigh less then 1,500 grams and require special care. In 2020, in total 409 premature infants were born at the University Hospital Dresden.

This new care process is also of great benefit for mothers. While the in past mothers could not witness the first minutes of life of their preterm baby, because it was taken away immediately after birth, they can now keep their baby close and witness their baby’s first breaths. “Mothers, who’s children are born on their due date by cesarean section, already benefit from keeping their baby close,” says PD Dr. Cahit Birdir, Director of Perinatal Medicine and Obstetrics at the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics. “The so called “Cesarean Birth”, a specialty of the Dresden University Women’s Hospital, can now also be offered to mothers with prematurely born babies.”

This fulfills a further step towards our vision, to improve care at birth for preterm baby’s, to strengthen the bond between parents and their child, starting from the very beginning. Our caregivers know from many years of experience, how important the bond between parents and children is, especially in preterm babies. As soon as the baby is adequately treated and the mother’s cesarean section is finished, the two come together, and, together with the partner, feel the closeness of the new family.

 

Contact
University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden

Center for feto/neonatal health

Director: Prof. Dr. med. Mario Rüdiger

+49 351 4 58 3640 (Sekretariat)

E-mail: mario.ruediger@uniklinium-dresden.de

www.ukdd.de/fetoneoZentrum

 

Concord Neonatal B.V.

CEO: Rianne Rotink

+31642559493

e-mail: rianne.rotink@concordneonatal.com

www.concordneonatal.com

[Mohan]

Great job. Is this similar to the Life start trolley being used in UK?

[Rianne Rotink]

Thank you @Mohan. The Concord Birth Trolley and Lifestart both are designed to provide stabilization with an intact cord. Both solutions are somewhat different though. The Concord Birth Trolley has been designed to be able to provide full stabilization / resuscitation with an intact cord until the baby is fully stable. You can find more information here: https://concordneonatal.com/solution/