Information for Parents
If your baby is being cared for on a neonatal unit taking part in the BASE Studies, you may be given information about one of our studies. Here you can find out what taking part may involve and where to find more information.
The BASE Studies includes three related studies; BASE Trial, BASE Observational Study and BASE Qualitative Study.
BASE Trial
We want to find out whether premature babies who develop metabolic acidosis should be treated with sodium bicarbonate.
If you agree for your baby to take part, they will be enrolled in the study if they develop metabolic acidosis. All babies who take part will be placed into one of two groups:
Sodium bicarbonate group: Your baby will be given sodium bicarbonate if they develop metabolic acidosis.
No sodium bicarbonate group: Your baby will not be given sodium bicarbonate if they develop metabolic acidosis.
To learn more, please read our Parent Information Leaflet and Introduction Leaflet.
Parent Information Leaflet 
Introduction Leaflet
You can also watch our BASE Introduction Video.
BASE Observational Study
This study will collect information to find out how often metabolic acidosis occurs, how it is treated and whether there is any association between treatment and health outcomes.
If you are given information about this study, your baby will be enrolled unless you let a member of your baby's clinical team know that you do not want your baby to take part.
Taking part will not change your baby's care in any way. There will be no extra treatments or interventions. We will collect information from your baby's medical record to complete the study.
Please read our Parent Information Leaflet to find out more information about the study.
Observational Study Parent Information Leaflet
Qualitative QuinteT Study
We are also conducting a qualitative study to better understand parents' experiences of being approached about taking part in research.
Some parents may be invited to have their discussion about the study audio-recorded and/or to take part in an interview about their experience of being invited to participate.
By listening to parents' views and experiences, we hope to improve how information about research studies is shared with families in the future.
