UNB collaborates on groundbreaking research to help newborns
Author: UNB Newsroom
Posted on Mar 5, 2019
Category: UNB Fredericton
New Brunswick Health Research Foundation (NBHRF) awarded its monthly rising research star honours to a team of researchers from Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital (DECH), the faculty of science at the University of New Brunswick, and the departments of obstetrics and gynecology and pathology from Dalhousie University.
When Dr. Sheri-Lee Samson from the department of obstetrics and gynecology at DECH wanted to make delayed cord clamping (DCC) standard procedure at the hospital, she turned to Dr. Yu Chen of the department of laboratory medicine at DECH.
Dr. Chen, in turn, created a research team to conduct the largest study to date that evaluates the differences in blood test results if the cord was clamped immediately following birth or delayed by one or two minutes. Delayed cord clamping allows the newborn baby to receive an additional 80-100 milliliters of blood directly from the placenta, decreasing the chance of anemia and infection in newborns.
Mr. Jiachen Tang, an undergraduate science student from UNB Fredericton, tabulated the results of blood gas testing data and provided statistical analysis from 494 participants for over a year and half.
The collaboration of researchers found that obstetricians and laboratories are not required to set-up two sets of reference ranges for blood gas tests after the DDC procedure.
Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital will be the first hospital in Atlantic Canada to implement DCC as standard practice.
NBHRF Research Rising Star monthly winners are showcased from January 2019 to October 2019 in a Huddle article, on the NBHRF website and in the monthly NBHRF eNewsletter. The Health Research Team of the Year will be announced at the NBHRF Gala of Excellence in November 2019.
Media contact: Paisley Sibbald