Premature birth is currently amongst the first causes of perinatal mortality and childhood disability. Even if the remarkable advances in the last decades in neonatological care have allowed an important improvement in survival at very early gestational ages and among babies weighing less than 1000g, the number of unresolved neurological sequelae and clinical outcomes is still high. This situation significantly affects the lives of families who have had a severely preterm infant , considering also the cost involved for neonatal and pediatric care. From an obstetrical point of view, the ability to intercept pregnant women at high risk of premature delivery has improved, but our ability to handle such cases, to establish effective preventive strategies or to launch targeted treatments to delay the delivery or to prolong the gestation as long as possible is still suboptimal.
Among the main problems we certainly include premature birth prevention in an increasing number of multiple pregnancies and treatment of patients with premature membrane rupture well before the due date. In these
cases patient surveillance protocols are still lacking due to the poor understanding of he pathophysiology of adverse pregnancy outcomes affecting the mother and the fetus.
The idea for this conference came from this awareness. Bringing together many international experts to see where we stand on a consolidated knowledge and to discuss the most promising research lines in obstetrical strategies for managing early delivery. The ultimate goal is to be able to contribute progressively and effectively to the global population health birth and that can only be achieved through scientific evolution and the foundations generously supporting it.
Prof. Tiziana Frusca
President of the Meeting