Highest preterm births in India: UN report

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, May 21

India has the highest preterm births — babies who are born alive before 37 weeks of the pregnancy — in the world accounting for about 23 per cent of the preterm births worldwide.

Around 30 lakh preterm babies were born in India in 2020, according to a new report titled “Born too soon: Decade of action on preterm birth” by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). India is followed by Pakistan with 9.4 lakh babies getting born before the complete pregnancy.

Almost half (45 per cent) of all preterm births in 2020 occurred in just five countries: India, Pakistan, Nigeria, China and Ethiopia.

“An estimated 13.4 million babies were born preterm in 2020, meaning that 1 in 10 babies worldwide was ‘born too soon’,” reads the report.

Notably, preterm birth remains the fourth leading cause of loss of human capital worldwide at all ages.

The report also highlights climate change has further threatened women’s and adolescents’ access to high-quality health services that are essential for preventing and managing preterm birth.

Although the impacts of climate change are being felt in all areas of the world, the people most affected have contributed least to the crisis. The report reveals that around 91 per cent of deaths of preterm babies related to air pollution occur in low middle income countries.

“Climate change has harmful impacts during the perinatal period. It increases the risk of preterm birth by direct pathways such as air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels increases risk by 52 per cent in asthmatic mothers and extreme heat exposure increases risk by 16 per cent,” read the report.

The report further states household air pollution was an attributable factor for 15.6 per cent of all low-birth-weight babies and 35.7 per cent of all preterm births, notably in low-income countries.

‘Born too soon’

• 30 lakh preterm babies born in India in 2020
• India is followed by Pakistan with 9.4 lakh preterm babies
• 45% of all preterm births in 2020 occurred in just five countries: India, Pakistan, Nigeria, China and Ethiopia