I'm a parent/guardian

What is THE WHEAT TRIAL?

Some babies who are born early can develop a bowel disease called necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) which can be serious and can have long-term effects on how babies grow and develop. We want to know if feeding babies or not feeding babies while they have a blood transfusion changes the number of babies that get NEC.

Preventing necrotising enterocolitis has been identified by parents, patients and health professionals as the third most important research priority in the field of preterm birth. If simply stopping feeds when giving a blood transfusion can reduce the risk of necrotising enterocolitis, we could quickly and easily start to prevent this devastating disease. On the other hand, because breast milk has so many beneficial effects for premature babies, stopping it might not be a good idea either. The only way we can resolve this uncertainty is through a clinical trial like WHEAT.

The WHEAT Trial will compare two different approaches, feeding babies or not feeding babies during blood transfusions, to work out which one is better. Both approaches are standard practice in the UK and Canada, but we don’t know how best to feed babies during blood transfusions – some hospitals and doctors stop feeds while others don’t. This is important because babies that are born early often need blood transfusions because they become anaemic (they do not have enough red blood cells, which can cause weakness or breathlessness). We know babies need blood transfusions, but we do not know how best to look after them during the transfusion.

The WHEAT Trial started in January 2022 and is currently taking place in neonatal units across the UK and Canada, recruiting about 4,500 pre-term babies across both countries.

We expect the final baby to be recruited into the trial in December 2025.

You can find out more information about the WHEAT Trial, by reading our Parent Information Sheet which you can access by clicking the link below. There are separate versions for Canadian and British parents/guardians.

Canada Parent Information Sheet V2.1 17JAN22

UK Parent Information Sheet V2.0 21JUN22

(Note that the document does not have contact details of your local hospital - contact us using the links below if you have more questions)

CAN MY BABY TAKE PART IN THE WHEAT TRIAL?

Your baby can take part in the WHEAT Trial if they were born before 30 weeks old, they are currently under 35 weeks old and have not had a previous blood transfusion with feeds at the same time and do not have any other medical condition which will prevent them from feeding.

If your baby meets these criteria, requires a routine blood transfusion and your hospital is running the WHEAT Trial, then your baby’s doctor or nurse will speak to you about your baby’s taking part in the trial.