Predicting Preterm Birth Based on Maternal and Fetal Data

Preterm birth is “a birth which takes place after at least 20, but less than 37, completed weeks of gestation. This includes both live births, and stillbirths” [15]. Preterm birth may cause problems such as perinatal mortality, serious neonatal morbidity and moderate to severe childhood disability. Between 6-10% of all births in Western countries are preterm and preterm deaths are the cause for more than two-third of all perinatal deaths [9]. While the recent advances in neonatal medicine has greatly increase the chance of survival of infants born after 20 weeks of gestation, these infants still frequently suffer from lifelong handicaps, and their care can exceed a million dollars during the first year of life [5 as cited in 6]. As a first step for preventing preterm birth, decision support tools are needed to help doctors predict preterm birth [6].