Alberta BLOOM PCS - Alberta Bloom

Premature Child Study (PCS) from the Alberta BLOOM study

This study is actively enrolling participants, and is expected to do so until 2025/2026.

What is the Alberta BLOOM Premature Child Study (PCS)?

Keywords: Observational clinical study, microbiome, health, premature infants.

PCS (Premature Child Study) is a longitudinal clinical study meaning it follows participating children as they grow and collects information and samples along the way. The study aims to understand how the gut microbiome of children born preterm develops over time. This is important as the community of microbes in the first years of life has been shown to have a major impact on a child’s health and development. We are also studying how the preterm gut microbiome affects the risk of developing conditions like asthma and allergies. In Fall 2021, we began recruiting participants from birth and other studies. Learn more in the sections below and the overview of the study timeline.

What is being studied?

BLOOM PCS is studying biological samples collected from infants and their birth mothers. This will give us a better understanding of how the gut microbiome impacts immune response and shapes health outcomes. PCS includes children born preterm and at term to compare how their microbiomes and immune systems differ.

What is collected, How & Why?

Who can be part of the study?

Infants born in one the main Hospitals in Calgary before 37-weeks gestation and their mothers,
Participants from previous studies including Pregnancy During the Pandemic (PdP), BLOOM-PTN, BLOOM-LTFU, and PROBIO can also be invited to participate in the study.

Overall, about 405 children born premature and 130 children born at term from Alberta will take part in this study.

What will my and my child's participation in the study involve?

For infants joining at birth

The study will follow infants born premature and their parent/guardian for the first 3.5 years of life. The study will collect several biological samples from infants and their birth mothers in the first 8 weeks of life. Follow-up samples will be collected from participating children at 3 months, 1 year and 3 years of age. Parents will be asked to complete 4 online questionnaires at 2 weeks, 2 months, 1 year and 3 years. A follow up interview will also occur at 3 months of age. Please see Timeline for more details.

For children joining from previous studies

The study will follow children until they are 3.5 years old. Participation in the study involves visiting the Alberta Children’s Hospital for allergy testing and sample collection. The study will also ask participating families to collect biological samples from their children at home and complete online questionnaire(s). Please see Timeline for more details.

Where is this study taking place?

For infants joining at birth

The study will take place at hospitals throughout Calgary while the infant is still in the NICU, and later at the participant’s home. Families will also be asked to attend two clinic visits at the Alberta Children’s Hospital when the participating child is 1 to 2 years of age and again at 3 years of age.

For children joining from previous studies

The study involves visiting the Alberta Children’s Hospital for allergy testing and sample collection. The rest of the sample collection can be done from the participating child’s home.