Being born before the canonical nine months of intrauterine life is finished is not a privilege. Instead, it is born small and fragile: premature, preterm.
(by Nicola Simonetti) In Italy, about 7% of newborns are born premature, that is 35.000 a year: children who start their life uphill because they need more care, support and attention. They are not all the same and need more assistance the lower their gestational age, with an individualized approach to care, more or less demanding depending on the case.
But not all are available human, environmental, structural resources, suitable equipment. Inequality, regional differences in the care path lead to an Italy with 2O regional health services with discrepancies between them to the detriment of the South. And these differences have an impact on the development, on the balance of the newborn and his family.
It is necessary to better distribute and increase the allocated resources, reorganize the network but also - said Mauro Stronati, past president of the Italian Society of Neonatology (SIN), at the meeting that started the "T-PROTEGGO campaign to defend the rights of newborns premature babies ”- decrease the number of births in favor of larger ones to increase safety standards. It is time to create a real synergy at the national level, aimed at improving the health of the premature baby and ensuring adequate social and health support for families. A path that primarily involves parents, but which must also include the active participation of the institutions ”.
A Doxapharma survey found that a third of parents arrive at birth without ever having heard of the problem and that even those who have been informed of it arrive unprepared. The mother usually feels guilty, reproaching herself for not having been able to make the pregnancy last nine months. Internal conflict, worry, doubt, anxiety, terror, fear pervade the couple as revealed by the "confessions" made via the web.
The doctor and other staff are, in general, numerically insufficient to dedicate to the couple the time necessary to explain, to understand, to help, to dispel doubts and feelings of guilt, to support psychologically. 57% of parents feel lack of psychological support and 41% deems it necessary to help with the child's early years.
“The campaign launched by Vivere onlus and Neonatology Society in collaboration with AbbVie - says prof. Fabio Mosca, president of SIN - wants to rekindle the dialogue between institutions, departments, parents' associations for a better and more homogeneous assistance and management of the preterm infant even over time (periodic checks, at least up to 3 years of life).
The needs and requests were illustrated by Martina Bruscagnin, president Vivere non-profit organization, which, in the National Coordination, brings together 45 Associations of parents of premature babies and is part of the European Foundation of all the associations for neonatology in Europe and beyond. The "Manifesto dei diritti" of these children have been published. Remember also the recommendations of the Ministry of Health of 12.5.2016
"Prevention strategies, high quality of care and prolonged follow-up after birth are some of the key points to be developed. ABBVIE - says CEO Fabrizio Greco - has always been involved in partnership programs aimed at identifying concrete and sustainable solutions ".
Testimonial of the Campaign, Andrea Lucchetta, former volleyball champion who said "How" I protect "a ball in defense or I put him in the dribble, I ask everyone to protect the rights of these babies posting on social media, photos, videos or stories using the hashtag #Tproteggo, to turn the attention on the related problems ".