Information for Parents

Babies who are born very early or who suffer poor blood supply or lack of oxygen to the brain before or around birth are more likely to have problems with their brain development and child neurological development. This may affect how children think and learn, communicate, play and interact with the world around them.

The developing brain is constantly making new connections and nerve cells from specific nutrients. Babies who are born very early, or who suffer poor blood supply or lack of oxygen to the brain before or around birth, may need higher amounts of these nutrients to support brain growth and development. At the moment we don't know if giving higher amount of these nutrients improves child development..

The DOLFIN trial is looking to understand whether adding a daily nutrient supplement to the milk or food of babies born very early or who suffer poor blood supply or lack of oxygen to the brain before or around birth can help improve child neurological development.

If you have any questions about the trial, you can contact the DOLFIN trial team at the University of Oxford by emailing dolfin@npeu.ox.ac.uk

If you would like to contact a charity organisation about DOLFIN, we suggest that you contact Bliss, the national charity for babies born premature or sick. Bliss are DOLFIN study co-investigators and have worked on the development of resources for parents.

Visit the Bliss website

Email: research@bliss.org.uk