Preterm birth (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) impacts approximately 8% of all births in Canada annually. A child born preterm is at a greater risk of developmental problems later in life than a child born full-term. The accurate prediction of later problems early in life remains challenging.

The main purposes of this research study are:

+ to compare the levels of inflammation in mom and umbilical cord blood and injury and maturation of the brain of preterm infants with full-term infants;
+ to correlate levels of inflammation with brain injury and maturation and developmental outcomes at two years in preterm infants and compare with full-term infants; and
+ to improve brain health and outcomes for preterm infants and their families

Infants are eligible for this substudy if their mom is participating in the P3 Cohort and/or High Risk Cohort studies and the infant is either born preterm (at less than 37 weeks of pregnancy) or at term (39 to 41 weeks of pregnancy).

This study consists of:

1. 1. A brain MRI around term corrected age (the anticipated due date) of the infant;
   2. Three short video recordings of the infant’s movements around term corrected age and 4 months corrected age that will be recorded at home by the parents; and
   3. Follow-up assessment of the infant at 24 months corrected age.

Your child’s participation in this research study is completely voluntary.

The Principal Investigator for this study is Dr. Lara Leijser, MD, PhD, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Calgary. This substudy has been approved by the University of Calgary’s Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board (REB21-1446).

If you are interested in finding out more about this research study, please contact the P3 Cohort Team at p3cohort@ucalgary.ca or 587-355-2036 and mention your interest in finding out more about the P3 Brain Health Study.