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As the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality, preterm birth is recognized as a major public health concern around the world. The purpose of this review is to analyze the connection between infections and premature birth. Spontaneous preterm birth is commonly associated with intrauterine infection/inflammation. The overproduction of prostaglandins caused by the inflammation associated with an infection could lead to uterine contractions, contributing to preterm delivery. Many pathogens, particularly Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, Gardnerella vaginalis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, Actinomyces, Candida spp., and Streptococcus spp. have been related with premature delivery, chorioamnionitis, and sepsis of the neonate. Further research regarding the prevention of preterm delivery is required in order to develop effective preventive methods with the aim of reducing neonatal morbidity.

The term infertility is defined as the lack of conception within 1 year of unprotected intercourse. It affects more than 80 million individuals worldwide. It is estimated that 10-15% of couples of reproductive age are challenged by reproductive issues. Assisted reproduction techniques (ART) are responsible for more than 4% of live births. Our aim is to review the research on neurodevelopmental outcomes of newborns born after the implementation of assisted reproduction methods compared to those conceived naturally. We conducted a comprehensive search of the PubMed, Crossref and Google Scholar electronic databases for related articles up to June 2022 using the PRISMA guidelines. Our research revealed a large number of long term follow-up studies between 2 and 18 years of age, with comparable developmental outcomes. Many studies compared the effects of different infertility treatments against natural conception. The review of the literature revealed that ART is safe, as the majority of studies showed no effect on the neurodevelopmental outcomes of the offspring. In most cases when such an effect was observed, it could be attributed to confounding factors such as subfertility, multiple pregnancies and gestational age at delivery. Finally, the increase in the prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders after ART, as described in studies with statistically significant results, is predominantly marginal, and given the low incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders in the general population, its clinical significance is debatable.