Today in Italy the percentage of babies born preterm varies between 7 and 10%: every year in our country between 25,000 and 30,000 babies are born before term, about 1 in 10, most of them not severely premature (the so-called "late preterm" babies), while about 0.9-1% are born "very" or "extremely" preterm. Significant progress has been made by science and, today, even for babies born before 27-28 weeks, the chance of survival is high, above 70%, although the increase in survival is not also matched by a similar drastic decrease in problems presented years later. The incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders in children born preterm is estimated to be around 20%, while infant cerebral palsy affects about 10% of infants with high-grade prematurity, and is the most frequent cause of motor disability in children.
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