Rome, 16 November 2024 – Every year over 13 million children around the world are born prematurely, i.e. before 37 weeks of gestation; in Italy there are around 25,000. They are more fragile and delicate children who, at the time of birth, have variable immaturity of organs and systems, so they may have significant difficulties in adapting independently to life outside the mother’s womb.
They may need assistance and dedicated care in the Neonatal Pathology and Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) departments, with sophisticated and cutting-edge equipment and highly specialized medical and nursing staff, but always with the closeness of the parents, who are an integral part of their care. World Prematurity Day 2024, which is celebrated on November 17, has just like claim “Access to quality care everywhere”, which is one of the priority objectives of the Italian Society of Neonatology (SIN).
Prof. Massimo Agosti
In a context of constant improvement in perinatal care, preterm births continue to have an important impact on Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care departments, on the families involved and on the network of social and educational services. In high-income countries, the prevalence of preterm births is between 5% and 11%. This group of newborns is responsible for approximately 70% of deaths within one month of life and 75% of neonatal morbidity and is associated with important health outcomes, mainly of a neurocognitive, respiratory and sensory nature.
Even if important progress has been made in recent decades in improving survival and morbidity, the personal, family and socio-health costs associated with both the intensive care provided after birth and those of the “taking charge” process still remain high. ” to be started after discharge from hospital.
Thanks to the collection of epidemiological data in Neonatology, it is possible to understand and promote health in this group of particularly fragile newborns, identifying the most “preventable” risk factors, both pre-conceptional and occurring during pregnancy; supporting programs to improve the quality of care, thanks to the comparison of specific care and/or health indicators between individual centers or geographical areas; implementing and improving health service planning policies.
The presence of parents in the NICU is fundamental for the healthy development of newborns
Prof. Luigi Orfeo
It is scientifically proven by numerous studies such as the closeness of the parents, their active involvement in the treatment process, their physical contact, primarily thanks to Kangaroo
Caretheir voice, all represent indispensable elements that contribute, together with medical-nursing assistance, to the well-being and healthy development of premature newborns.
“Parents represent for us a very precious resource and a very valid help in the care of their children – say the outgoing SIN President Luigi Orfeo and the newly elected SIN President Massimo Agosti – In order to guarantee increasingly better assistance, we must create the conditions for this participation can be real and continue to promote the necessary 24-hour opening of NICUs. There are still too many centers with limited and short opening hours and this makes parents perceive themselves as visitors.”
Breast milk and donated human milk, two precious foods for premature newborns
Breast milk is the priority element for building a healthy future for newborns, even more so for premature newborns, for whom it is a real lifesaver. In the absence or waiting for one’s mother’s milk, Donated Human Milk, collected in 44 “donated human milk banks”, distributed throughout the national territory, becomes fundamental for this category of newborns.
There are many advantages of using Human Milk for the premature newborn: reduction in the incidence of food intolerance, necrotizing enterocolitis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, even serious infections, retinopathy of prematurity, early achievement of exclusive enteral feeding, improvement of the outcome neurocognitive and promotion of brain development.
The early use of Donated Human Milk also allows for a reduction in hospitalization times and promotes the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). For years, SIN has been active, together with AIBLUD Onlus, in promoting human milk donation, informing potential donor mothers about this vital act of love for the newborns who will receive it.
