As Charles Darwin would probably agree, being born in India is more like a game called ‘survival of the fittest’. Consider the statistics: The number of babies who die before completing 28 days is 29 per 1,000 live births. The picture only gets grimmer while talking about premature babies. According to non-government organisation Save the Children’s 2012 report titled Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Pre-term Birth, India stood first in a list of countries that had the most number of deaths due to pre-term births.

Medical and healthcare experts point out that in a country bogged down by its multiple battles with diseases such as malaria, dengue and tuberculosis, preterm births (and deaths) rarely received the kind of attention it deserved until recently. They, however, remain hopeful. On September 18, while launching its new Indian Newborn Action Plan, the new government vowed to bring the number of neonatal deaths to a single digit by 2030.

Decoding a preterm birth
Although highly contested, a normal pregnancy is expected to last 40 weeks. Any baby of ‘less than 37 weeks gestational age’ is considered premature. Some babies are born as early as 24 weeks. “But thanks to technological advancements, we are able to save such children. But if a child is born earlier than that, then his/her chance of survival will depend on the kind of care s/he gets at the hospital and so on,” explains Dr KP Sanghvi, consultant neonatologist and pediatrician.