Sidra Medicine Highlights Advanced Maternity Research and Neonatal Care on World Health Day

Marking Healthy Beginnings and Hopeful Futures for Women and Children

07 April 2024, Doha, Qatar – Sidra Medicine, a member of Qatar Foundation, marks World Health Day with highlights from its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and a recent microbiome study on preterm birth from its Research division.

Professor Ibrahim Janahi, Acting Chief Medical Officer at Sidra Medicine, said: “This year’s World Health Day theme focuses on maternal and newborn health, advocating for healthy beginnings, hopeful futures. I am proud that Sidra Medicine’s precision-led joint clinical and research initiatives have been developed to maintain the highest standards of healthcare for women and children in Qatar. It is inspiring that many of our programs are also having a regional and global impact.

Our NICU is at the forefront of world-class services to improve the health outcomes of sick and premature newborns. While our researchers are working on several pioneering studies to understand and enhance maternal and child health. This innovative approach allows us to truly transform lives that will ensure healthier generations as well as contribute to long-term societal well-being,” continued Prof. Janahi.

Research on Preterm Birth

Preterm birth affects 10 percent of pregnancies in Qatar¹ and remains a significant global health challenge. To address this, Sidra Medicine has expanded its research priorities with several major maternal and child health studies, including a recently published study on preterm birth.

Published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology and titled Exploring the Composition of the Placental Microbiome and Its Potential Origin in Preterm Birth, the study explores how the placental microbiome may contribute to preterm birth, a leading cause of neonatal health complications worldwide. The research examined the microbial composition of the placenta and its possible origins, revealing key differences between preterm and full-term pregnancies.

The study found that in preterm births, the placental microbiome resembles the vaginal microbiome, while in full-term pregnancies, it mirrors the oral microbiome. This suggests a strong link between maternal microbiota and pregnancy outcomes, offering insights into how microbial composition may influence preterm birth and aid in early detection and targeted prevention strategies.

Dr. Souhaila Al Khodor, Principal Investigator and Director of the Reproductive and Perinatal Health Division at Sidra Medicine said: “Microbiomes play a big role in our health and predisposition to diseases. It is also an area where Sidra Medicine is paving the way for novel and ground-breakAing research and therapeutics. One key area of focus is improving fertility outcomes, and it’s important to recognize that precision medicine starts even before birth, it begins in the womb.”

The study suggests that identifying microbial compositions could predict preterm birth risk and enable earlier interventions. Integrating oral health and maintaining a balanced vaginal microbiome may reduce preterm birth risk by supporting the vaginal-placental barrier.

The Reproductive and Perinatal Health Division is also working on the Omouma Cohort Study, which aims to identify key biomarkers for pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes and preterm birth, ultimately helping to improve outcomes for mothers and babies.

World-class NICU Care

Sidra Medicine’s Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is the only level 4 NICU (quaternary care) in Qatar, caring for babies with the most complex conditions or those requiring serious neonatal emergency care.

The NICU’s life-saving services feature a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia-Qatar (CDH-Q) program to improve the quality of care and outcomes for babies born with CDH. The comprehensive program incorporates detecting the condition during pregnancy, providing medical and surgical treatment after birth including ECMO, and following up in an outpatient clinic after the mother is discharged.

Professor Samir Gupta, Division Chief of Neonatology at Sidra Medicine, said: “CDH is a complex condition present at birth and occurs in approximately 1 in 2,500 live births in Qatar. Globally, approximately 30 to 40 percent of newborns with this condition do not survive. Through the continuous improvements made over the years under the CDH-Q program, 100 percent of the babies born in 2024 at our hospital successfully survived their stay in the neonatal unit. The chances of survival are comparable to, or exceed, many leading hospitals worldwide that provide treatment for CDH.”

The NICU also established a family integrated care (FIC) model, that actively involves, integrates and empowers parents in their baby’s care within the NICU, to support their baby’s development. Prof. Gupta continued: “FIC plays a vital role in improving the health outcomes of sick and premature newborn infants by promoting parental involvement. This approach prioritizes parental involvement, individualized care and neuroprotective developmental support to improve infant outcomes. Research shows that this approach leads to improved weight gain, reduced stress in both infants and their parents, shorter hospital stays, stronger parent-infant bonding and emotional well-being for families.”