Assessing newborn gestational age in low-middle income countries

Preterm birth is the leading cause of child mortality. In low-middle income countries (LMICs), the lack of available or accurate data on the gestational age (GA) of a pregnancy can lead to misclassification of infants as preterm or not. This is a critical barrier to providing adequate care for these vulnerable babies and estimating the global burden of preterm birth. Improvement in GA dating is a key priority to provide improved clinical care of mothers and babies, and to improve epidemiological data on the burden of disease.

The World Health Organization Alliance for Maternal and Newborn Health Improvement (WHO AMANHI) study addresses limitations in GA measurements through using novel techniques that can more accurately measure GA in LMIC’s.

Source: BMJ Global Health