General information

Worldwide, 1% of all infants are born very preterm with a gestational age below 32 completed weeks of gestation or a birth weight <1’500 g (very low birth weight). In Switzerland, approximately 800 infants per year fall in one of these two categories.

Among these smallest infants, one of the most consistent predictors of neurodevelopmental impairment is intraventricular haemorrhage, occuring in approximately 20% of all very preterm and very low birth weight infants, mostly within the first few days after birth.