Indian scientists developing new algorithm to help predict preterm births

Preterm babies either die within few weeks of their birth or they live with severe problems such as they get sick a lot, and find it hard to learn, hear or see through their life

Can you predict premature births? Scientists in India are trying to figure out. Over the past four years, they have been recruiting women early in their pregnancy and collecting lots of data from them in an ongoing study. The idea is to eventually develop algorithms that can inform doctors how likely it is for a woman to deliver her baby before the 37 weeks of pregnancy. About 15 million babies are born preterm in the world. The highest percentage (23.6 per cent) of them is in India.

Preterm births are increasing across the globe. While less than 10 per cent of