EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF PERINATAL MEDICINE (EAPM) EUROPEAN MIDWIVES ASSOCIATION (EMA) Joint position statement: Caesarean delivery rates at a country level should be in the 15-20 % range.

While cesarean deliveries performed for health indications can save lives, unnecessary cesareans cause unjustifiable health risks for the mother, newborn, and for future pregnancies. Previous recommendations for cesarean delivery rates at a country level in the 10-15% range are currently unrealistic, and the proposed concept that striving to achieve specific rates is not important has resulted in a confusing message reaching healthcare professionals and the public. It is important to have a clear understanding of when cesarean delivery rates are deviating from internationally acceptable ranges, to trigger the implementation of healthcare policies needed to correct this problem.

Validation of the postnatal growth and retinopathy of prematurity screening criteria: A retrospective Italian analysis.

Purpose: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the leading cause of childhood blindness. The aim of our study is to validate the new screening criteria elaborated by the Postnatal Growth and Retinopathy of Prematurity (G-ROP) study group in a monocentric cohort of Italian preterm infants.

Methods: We retrospectively applied the G-ROP screening criteria to a cohort of preterm infants born between May 2015 and July 2020 with known birth weight, gestational age, serial weight measurement, and known ROP outcome.

Cranial ultrasound findings in preterm germinal matrix haemorrhage, sequelae and outcome.

Germinal matrix-intraventricular haemorrhage (GMH-IVH), periventricular haemorrhagic infarction (PHI) and its complication, post-haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation (PHVD), are still common neonatal morbidities in preterm infants that are highly associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Typical cranial ultrasound (CUS) findings of GMH-IVH, PHI and PHVD, their anatomical substrates and underlying mechanisms are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, we propose a detailed descriptive classification of GMH-IVH and PHI that may improve quality of CUS reporting and prediction of outcome in infants suffering from GMH-IVH/PHI.

A clinical diagnostic algorithm for early onset cerebellar ataxia.

Early onset cerebellar Ataxia (EOAc) comprises a large group of rare heterogeneous disorders. Determination of the underlying etiology can be difficult given the broad differential diagnosis and the complexity of the genotype-phenotype relationships. This may change the diagnostic work-up into a time-consuming, costly and not always rewarding task.