November 17th is celebrated around the world World Prematurity Day –World Prematurity Day – global event celebrated in more than 100 countries, which aims to raise public awareness on the issue of prematurity, to also give a voice to the families of young patients.
“Small actions BIG IMPACT: immediate skin-to-skin care for every baby everywhere” – Small actions BIG IMPACT: immediate skin-to-skin care for every baby everywhere” is the global theme of the Day 2023. #WorldPrematurityDay2023.
Symbols of Prematurity Day, the color purple and the line of socks: a small pair of purple socks among nine full-sized socks, symbolizes that 1 in 10 babies is born preterm. All over the world.
(Fonte: World Prematurity Day – European Foundation for the care of newborn infants)
Data in Italy
In Italy they are born every year 24.000 prematurely (6.3% of the total), i.e. children who come into the world before the 37th week of gestational age. Of these, 75.3% are represented by pre-term births from the 34th to the 36th gestational week. (Source: CeDAP Report 2022).
The importance of skin-to-skin contact: KMC – Kangaroo Mother Care
Prematurity is an urgent public health problem, representing the leading cause of death in girls and boys under 5 years of age. In fact, every year it is estimated that 13.4 million children are born preterm (before the 37th week of gestation), while an even higher number, over 20 million children, have a low birth weight (less than 2, 5kg). One of the most powerful treatments a newborn can receive is skin-to-skin contact with a parent and for this reason every child has the right to always benefit from the closeness of their parents.
The WHO intervened in May 2023 with two documents on the importance of KMC (Kangaroo Mother Care), continuous and prolonged skin-to-skin contact.Kangaroo mother care: a transformative innovation in health care: global position paper” e “Kangaroo mother care: implementation strategy for scale-up adaptable to different country contexts” aimed at promoting globally, both within healthcare facilities and at home, this life-saving practice, which includes skin-to-skin contact and exclusive breastfeeding, to the benefit of a greater number of premature and/or low-weight babies at birth.
(To know more: Higher Institute of Health, OMS)
The first thousand days of life. Actions and strategies
Health promotion in recent years has been enriched with interventions that have introduced innovative terms and concepts, such as those of “reproductive health” and “preconceptional health“, which focus attention on the optimal state of health that every woman and every couple can reach fertile age, to reduce fertility problems and improve the evolution of pregnancy, thus also protecting the health of your child.
It is known that in the period between conception and two years of age the foundations are laid for the child’s adequate physical and mental development and prevention, protection or treatment interventions carried out promptly in this very first phase of life lead to positive results. positive health outcomes in the short, medium and long term for the child and the adult to be.
Premature birth, and all that it determines, opens up to a parental reality that strongly clashes with the idea of the “imagined child”, so different from the real child who is the son after birth. This is followed by the experience of hospitalization, unique for each premature baby and his family unit. Parents need to be supported in their abilities and to feel welcomed, supported by the care team of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and actively involved in the care of their child, from the first days of life. In particular, also for the construction of new balances, in continuous evolution already during pregnancy and at the moment of birth, the value of the father’s relational contribution is evident both in the direct relationship with the partner, both in that with the child, and in mother/child pair.
Furthermore, during the last phases of hospitalization, it will be helpful to initiate contact with the Free Choice Pediatrician (PLS), also inviting him to the ward to get to know the child and his conditions, for better care after discharge, especially in case of any outcomes from prematurity.
The family represents an extraordinary point of strength and, to overcome the fears and sense of loneliness that also characterize the phase of returning home, it is necessary to plan the discharge of the newborn in time, to guarantee the stability of the “child system” and of the “mother/family/child system”.
Children born preterm, even when they resolve their health problems, still have to undertake a journey that starts from a disadvantaged position. The initial overexposure to stress, due to the micro and macro environment and painful stimuli, affects their neuropsychic development. They therefore require patient attention and care at home, at nursery, and then at school to give them time to align with other children. However, it is important to consider that these are children ready for life who can surprise with their achievements and their resilient capacity.
to know more