Prematurity and Intrauterine Growth Restriction: Comparative Analysis of Incidence and Short-Term Complication

Preterm birth, defined as birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation remains the leading cause of death in children under the age of 5 years, approximately one million children dying each ear due the its associated complications. One of the essential keys for preventing a preterm birth is a correct and complete pregnancy monitoring. Complications encountered frequently in preterm infant are cerebral palsy, vision impairment, cognitive and hearing impairment. Our study purpose was to evaluate the incidence of prematurity in a university hospital over a period of 5 years, the incidence of preterm infants with fetal growth restriction and the incidence of term newborns with fetal growth restriction. A total of 1405 cases of preterm newborns with a normal weight for gestational age, preterm newborns small for gestational age and term newborns small for gestational age where included in the study. Our study was focused on the main short complications of prematurity and fetal growth restriction and the augmentation of these complication if those two conditions are combined. The preterm newborns with fetal growth restriction had the highest rate of caesarean birth, with statistical difference comparatively to the normal birth weight preterm newborns and term newborns with fetal growth restriction. According to the results of our study, the cases of fetal growth restriction associated with premature delivery present the worst prognosis.