Every year, around 15 million babies are born before having fulfilled the 9 months of gestation and, on a global scale, the prematurity is the first cause of mortality in children under five years of age.
Addressing the challenge of premature infant survival with technology
in the countries ofhigh income, where practically all of these babies survive, the pending task is that this survival occurs with fewer morbidities. Premature babies are at risk of developing disabled that will accompany them throughout their lives, since any injury that occurs in the premature brain will compromise a critical time in their development, given that it is a period of active brain myelination and neural connections.
Els technological advances and knowledge they are essential for the survival of premature children, but not sufficient. Apart from the technology there must be a human part, this is the balance we try to maintain.
Different studies confirm that the incidence of cerebral palsy is inversely proportional to the length of gestation and that, this, affects one 9% of babies born before 32 weeks. This percentage amounts to 18% in those born before 26 weeks of gestation. In comparison, the number of children with cerebral palsy after the period of normal pregnancy comprises between 1% and 2%.
Neurological alterations in low birth weight premature infants
La frequency of neurodevelopmental disorders in very low birth weight premature babies it is very significant, being responsible for up to one 50% of childhood neurological abnormalities, which include from mild alterations of cognitive functions, to infantile cerebral palsy, delay in psychomotor development, sensorineural deafness or hypoacusis, retinopathy of prematurity, etc.
Preterm children show a wide range ofneuromotor abnormalities, which, sometimes, can persist and be accompanied by a delay or motor or fine motor disorder, visual-spatial deficit, alterations in executive function, visuo-perceptual and motor execution problems. Motor disorders in these children can range from mild-severe cerebral palsy to mild functional motor disorder called neuromotor dysfunction (ND), disorder in the development of coordination.
Challenges in the development and health of premature babies
For many of these children, the motor disorder is less disabling than the associated alterations to them (executive sphere, cognitive and fine motor disorders). For example, the EPICURE study carried out in 2010 (in the UK and Ireland) concluded that at age 11 the boys and girls who were born extremely premature (of 26 weeks of gestation) had a higher risk of developing ADHD, emotional disorders and ASD.
With this wide range of possible neurodevelopmental alterations in premature infants, our challenge as a multipurpose center is to give early response to the difficulties faced by families and parents, who are also seen in a situation of paternity and premature motherhood. Having to go through all of them for many moments fragility and life risk, facing challenges of survival and constant adaptation.
