Introduction:
We describe the incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in preterm infants in all 3rd level centers in Podkarpackie province, Poland. We identify the frequency of risk factors present in this population known to increase the occurrence of IVH, which if changed could result in better treatment outcomes.

Material and methods:
The retrospective, observational, multicenter study included 340 preterm infants who were born at ≤ 28 weeks of gestation. Patients hospitalized at 3rd level centers between 2016 and 2020 were enrolled in the analysis.

Results:
The incidence of IVH in the study population was 51%, and severe grades of IVH (sIVH) occurred in 24% of all infants. Patients diagnosed with sIVH had significantly more often lower gestational age (p = 0.0005), lower birth weight (p = 0.01), lack of antenatal steroid therapy (p = 0.0004), a partial course of antenatal steroid therapy (p = 0.0009), a lower Apgar score at 1 minute (p < 0.0001), invasive mechanical ventilation use (p < 0.0001) and a lower hematocrit (Hct) level at the first measurement after birth (p = 0.002). After multivariate analysis, the significant risk factors that increased risk of sIVH were: lack of or only a partial course of antenatal steroid therapy (OR: 2.85; 95% CI: 1.18–6.83, p = 0.02, OR: 3.16; 95% CI: 1.49–6.67, p = 0.003 respectively), invasive mechanical ventilation use (OR: 4.75; 95% CI: 2.18–10.34, p < 0.001) and the Hct level < 45% at first measurement (OR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.28–5.37, p = 0.008).

Conclusions:
The occurrence of any grade, but especially a severe grade of IVH is still a very common problem in premature infants. Administering a full course of antenatal steroid therapy, applying interventions to prevent anemia in preterm infants and optimizing ventilation methods may help reduce the incidence of IVH, which will improve patient outcomes.