Melatonin to Prevent Brain Injury in Unborn Growth Restricted Babies

Intrauterine growth restriction is the term used to describe a condition where an unborn baby does not reach its optimum size. In the short and long term, intrauterine growth restricted babies have a higher risk of serious disease and even death. It is well established that very low levels of oxygen in the baby's blood can harm the baby's health through a state known as oxidative stress. Currently, there is no established treatment available to treat intrauterine growth restriction or its complications. In experimental animal studies however, the naturally occuring hormone, melatonin, has been shown to significantly reduce oxidative stress and improve health of the unborn babies that have suffered from intrauterine growth restriction. This study aims to find out if the use melatonin twice per day throughout pregnancies affected by intrauterine growth restriction will lower the level of oxidative stress experienced by the unborn baby. If this is the case melatonin may help protect the unborn baby from damage caused by oxidative stress, this will be studied in a separate future study.