CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT02606058APTSUpdated Nov 5, 2020

The Australian Placental Transfusion Study (APTS): Should Very Pre Term Babies Receive a Placental Blood Transfusion at Birth Via Deferring Cord Clamping Versus Standard Cord Clamping Procedures?

An interventional study of Deferred cord clamping in Preterm Birth, sponsored by University of Sydney. Completed at 26 sites in 7 countries. Open to female participants. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-11-05.

Sponsored by University of Sydney · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 4 years 4 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Sep 2010, registered Jan 2015).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
1,637
Allocation
Randomized
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

To establish if placental transfusion, using deferred cord clamping for 60 seconds or more while holding the baby at or below the level of the placenta, will improve survival without disability compared with standard early cord clamping in preterm babies less than 30 weeks of gestation.

Read the detailed description

Most preterm babies have the umbilical cord clamped within 10 seconds of birth. Placental transfusion is a simple way of giving the baby extra blood at birth by delaying the clamping of the umbilical cord by 60 seconds or more. There is promising evidence from randomised trials that placental transfusion in babies less than 37 weeks of pregnancy may improve their blood pressure, reduce the number of blood transfusions needed and decrease bleeding into the brain, bowel disease and infection. However, we not know if babies born before 30 weeks of pregnancy benefit or if placental transfusion increases or decreases death or childhood disability. Despite this uncertainty more doctors are recommending that all very preterm babies are given a placental transfusion at birth. It is important to find out if placental transfusion does more good than harm, before it becomes even more widely used.

The Australian Placental Transfusion Study will enrol at least 1600 women who will give birth to babies born less than 30 weeks of gestation. These participants will be randomly assigned to either standard treatment where the umbilical cord is clamped within 10 seconds of birth or a second method where the umbilical cord will be clamped after waiting for 60 seconds or more at birth while the baby is being held below the level of the placenta. The main research question is whether placental transfusion reduces death and disability when the baby is discharged from hospital and into childhood.

02

Conditions studied

  • Preterm Birth

Browse trials for

03

In context

Premature Birth

2,554 studies on the registry are indexed under Premature Birth; 498 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 1,637 is above the median of 84 across 1,689 interventional studies indexed under Premature Birth.

Browse Premature Birth studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Sydney is the lead sponsor of 91 studies on the registry; 25 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

Women who have a reasonable chance of delivering less than 30 weeks of gestation. Informed consent has been received from the parent or guardian.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

No indication or contraindication to placental transfusion, in the view of mother or baby.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
1,637 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • No intervention
    Early cord clamping (Control Arm)

    Immediate cord clamping (\< 10 seconds after birth). The cord is clamped 6 cm from the umbilicus within ten seconds of delivery of the baby.

  • Experimental
    Deferred cord clamping

    Deferred cord clamping. Investigator/Research personnel holds the baby as low as possible below the level of the introitus or placenta for 60 seconds and not to exceed 80 seconds, then clamps the cord about 6 cm from the umbilicus.

    Procedure: Deferred cord clamping

Interventions

  • ProcedureDeferred cord clamping

    Deferred cord clamping (for 60 seconds or more with the baby held below or at the level of the placenta)

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Death and/or major morbidity at 36 weeks post menstrual age

    Composite death and/or major morbidity at 36 completed weeks post menstrual age. Morbidity is defined by one or more of the following: brain injury on ultrasound, severe retinopathy, necrotising enterocolitis, late onset sepsis.

    Time frame: 36 weeks post menstrual age

Secondary outcomes

  1. Incidence of death

    The death component of the composite primary outcome

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  2. Incidence of major morbidity

    Major morbidity (incidence of one or more of brain injury on ultrasound, severe retinopathy, necrotising enterocolitis or late onset sepsis).

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  3. Incidence of death or major disability

    Death or major disability (for example cerebral palsy with inability to walk; blindness; deafness; major problems with language or speech; ASQ score indicative of developmental delay)

    Time frame: Up to 3 years corrected age

  4. Incidence of death or brain injury on ultrasound

    Death or brain injury on ultrasound

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  5. Major disability defined as cerebral palsy with an inability to walk unassisted, severe visual loss, deafness, major problems with language or speech, or a score indicative of developmental delay on Ages and Stages Questionnaire.

    Time frame: Up to 3 years corrected age

  6. Brain injury on ultrasound

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  7. IVH (all grades) seen on ultrasound

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  8. IVH (Grades 3 & 4) seen on ultrasound

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  9. IVH (Grade 4) seen on ultrasound

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  10. Severe retinopathy warranting treatment or Stage 4 retinopathy according to the Australian and New Zealand Neonatal Network (ANZNN) definitions

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  11. Necrotizing enterocolitis with the following signs: at least 1 systemic sign, profile consistent with definite NEC, warranted treatment for NEC.

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  12. Patent ductus arteriosis requiring treatment (documented in medical records)

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  13. Chronic lung disease, defined as receiving supplemental oxygen or any form of assisted ventilation at 36 completed weeks post menstrual age for 4 consecutive hours in a 24 hour period

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  14. Late onset sepsis, defined as a clinical picture consistent with sepsis, and either a positive culture of blood and/or CSF, or a positive urine culture by sterile collection, and at least 5 days of antibiotic treatment.

    Time frame: 36 completed weeks post menstrual age

  15. Death up to 3 years corrected age

    Time frame: Up to 3 years corrected age

07

Study locations

26 sites
  • Baylor College of Medicine
    Houston, Texas 77030, United States
  • University of Vermont Medical Centre
    Burlington, Vermont 05401, United States
  • Canberra Hospital
    Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2605, Australia
  • John Hunter Hospital
    Newcastle, New South Wales 2305, Australia
  • Liverpool Hospital
    Sydney, New South Wales 2031, Australia
  • Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
    Sydney, New South Wales 2050, Australia
  • Royal North Shore Hospital
    Sydney, New South Wales 2065, Australia
  • Royal Hospital for Women
    Sydney, New South Wales 2170, Australia
  • Nepean Hospital
    Sydney, New South Wales 2747, Australia
  • Mater Mother's Hospital
    Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia
  • Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital
    Brisbane, Queensland 4101, Australia
  • Townsville Hospital
    Townsville, Queensland 4814, Australia
  • Flinders Medical Centre
    Adelaide, South Australia 5042, Australia
  • Monash Medical Centre
    Melbourne, Victoria 3084, Australia
  • Mercy Hospital for Women
    Melbourne, Victoria 3168, Australia
  • King Edward Memorial Hospital
    Perth, Western Australia 6008, Australia
  • IWK Health Center
    Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K6BA, Canada
  • Hôpital Antoine-Béclère
    Clamart, 92140, France
  • Auckland Hospital
    Auckland, 1023, New Zealand
  • Christchurch Hospital
    Christchurch, 4710, New Zealand
  • Dunedin Hospital
    Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand
  • Waikato Hospital
    Hamilton, 3204, New Zealand
  • Wellington Hospital
    Wellington, 6021, New Zealand
  • Aga Khan University Hospital
    Karachi, 74800, Pakistan
  • Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital
    Belfast, Northern Ireland BT12 6BA, United Kingdom
  • Craigavon Area Hospital
    Craigavon, Northern Ireland BT63 5QQ, United Kingdom
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Nov 5, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02606058
Lead sponsor
University of Sydney
Collaborators
National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia, Baylor College of Medicine
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Nov 17, 2015
Start date
Sep 2010
Primary completion
Apr 2017
Completion
Sep 2020
Last update
Nov 5, 2020

Study contacts

William T Mordi, MD
principal investigator · University of Sydney

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Nov 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion