Born Too Soon

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Did you know that pre-term birth complications are the leading cause of neonatal mortality worldwide?

15 million babies are born preterm (at less than 37 weeks gestation) each year, and 5 million of those are born outside of hospital facilities in low-income countries. Led by Dr. Anne CC Lee, a group of researchers  in the BWH Department of Newborn Medicine is working to improve early recognition of pre-term infants in rural Bangladesh, where 90 percent of births take place at home. The group is part of the Projahnmo team–a collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research-Bangladesh, Shimantik NGO, and the Bangladeshi Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Our researchers will develop methods to train lay community health workers on how to accurately identify pre-term infants and to link these high-risk babies with effective interventions to reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality.

Recently, the project, called “Linking Pre-term Infants with Special Care in rural Bangladesh: Improving Identification and Management of Babies Born Too Soon,” was selected as a finalist in the Saving Lives at Birth Grand Challenge. To learn more about it, and to vote for The Brigham and Women’s project to receive a People’s Choice Award, please visit http://savinglivesatbirth.net/innovation/2013/innovators/all