Docs eye screening tool to identify women at risk of premature births

Team from KKH, SGH to work on creating national database of preterm pregnancies

- Elisha Tushara

Her son weighed just 700g when he was born at 24 weeks after she spent the two weeks prior in hospital due to vaginal bleeding and cervix dilation.

Ms So Bee Leng's son, Ethan Ang, was born in 2017 with multiple disabilities stemming from his extreme prematurity. At seven days old, he underwent his first major surgery when his intestines were operated on.

For the next five years, he underwent four more major operations, which included implanting a cochlear hearing device, laser eye surgery to help with his vision and placing a feeding device through his belly to the stomach.

It is currently a challenge to identify mothers at risk of giving birth to premature babies as the only gauge is when mothers have had previous preterm births, like Ms So, said Professor Teoh Tiong Ghee, director of maternal and child global health and care transformation at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).

To proactively reduce and prevent prematurity, a 10-member team of doctors specialising in newborn care and high-risk pregnancies from KKH and Singapore General Hospital will start work on a new Preterm Pregnancy Prevention Programme in October.

The team aims to create a national database of all preterm pregnancies to identify risk factors, and then use this information to develop a screening prediction tool that can accurately assess the risk of preterm pregnancies.

A baby born before 37 full weeks of pregnancy is considered to have been born preterm or prematurely. A preterm baby's organs may not be fully developed.