Background The increased potential for negative pregnancy outcomes in both extremes of reproductive age is a well-debated argument. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence and the outcome of pregnancies conceived at extreme maternal ages. Methods This retrospective study considered all single consecutive pregnancies delivered in a tertiary referral center between 2001 and 2014. Patients were categorized into 4 groups according to maternal age at delivery (< 17 years; 18–28 years; 29–39 years; > 40 years). The following outcomes were considered (amongst others): pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders (PRHDs), neonatal resuscitation (NR), neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, periventricular leucomalacia (PVL), and grade 3 and 4 intraventicular hemorrhage (IVH). Results During the considered period 22,933 single pregnancies gave birth in our unit. We observed 71 women aged < 17 years, and 1552 aged > 40 years. In each year throughout the study period, there was a significant increment in maternal age of 0.041 years (95% CI 0.024–0.058) every new year. Multivariate analysis concluded out that maternal age over 40 years was an independent risk factor for preterm delivery (OR 1.36 95% CI 1.16–1.61, p < 0.05, PRHDs (OR 2.36 95% CI 1.86–3.00, p < 0.05), GDM (OR 1.71 95% CI 1.37–2.12, p < 0.05) cesarean section (OR 1.99 95% CI 1.78–2.23, p < 0.05), abnormal fetal presentation (OR 1.29 95% CI 1.03–1.61, p < 0.05), and fetal PVL (OR 3.32 95% CI 1.17–9.44, p < 0.05). We also observed that maternal age under 17 years or over 40 years was an independent risk factor for grade 3 or 4 neonatal IVH (OR 2.97 95% CI 1.24–7.14, p < 0.05). Conclusions These findings confirm a negative impact of extreme maternal ages on pregnancy. These results should be carefully taken into account by maternal care providers in order to inform women adequately, supporting them in understanding potential risks associated with their procreation choices, and to improve clinical surveillance. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12884-019-2400-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Recently the use of antibacterial agents to clean and dry the stump of the newborns’ umbilical cord (UC) after birth has been abandoned by many neonatal units in favor of dry cord care. Aim of this study was to compare the occurrence of adverse events (AEs) and time to cord separation among newborns treated with dry cord care versus 70% alcohol in an Italian Academic Hospital (AH).From December 2014 to March 2015, 239 infants were born at the AH. The number of eligible infants was 200 and they were equally assigned to either case group (dry cord care) or control group (70% alcohol, standard procedure). Standard cord care consisted in 1 application of 70% alcohol at birth followed by other 2 times a day, while experimental dry cord care procedure was executed by the only application of a sterile gauze around the base of the UC at the 1st day of life and after the cord has been exposed to air off the diaper edge. The time to UC separation and any AEs such as local and systemic infections, hemorrhage, and granuloma formation were reported by mothers.We found a significant difference in the mean cord separation time between the 2 groups (dry cord care: 10.1 days [standard deviation, SD = 4.0] vs 70% alcohol: 12.0 days [SD = 4.2]; P < 0.001), while no significant AEs resulted. Incidence rate of granuloma was 0.67 × 1000 days of life in dry cord care group.Dry cord care is an easy, straight-forward, and safe method of handling the UC in healthy newborn infants born in a high-income hospital setting.