India recorded the Highest Number of Deaths Due to Premature Births

A new report by Save the Children, titled Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Pre-term Birth revealed, India has the highest number of deaths due to premature births, and ranks 36th in the list of pre-term births globally. The ranking included 199 countries.

As per the report of the 27 million babies born in India annually (2010 figure), 3.6 million are born prematurely, of which 303600 don't survive due to complications. The deaths due to pre-term births are second only to pneumonia, the report noted.

In terms of deaths due to pre-term birth, India is at the top (indicating it fares the worst), while in terms of the rate of pre-term births, it is ranked 36th, after Malawi (ranked first), Pakistan (ranked eighth), Nepal (20th), and Bangladesh (24th).
More than 100 experts from almost 40 U.N. agencies, universities, and organisations contributed to the report,.

The countries with the greatest numbers of preterm births are India – 3519100; China – 1172300; Nigeria – 773600; Pakistan – 748100; Indonesia – 675,700; United States – 517400; Bangladesh – 424100; Philippines – 348900; Democratic Republic of the Congo – 341400; and Brazil – 279300.

More than 60 per cent of pre-term births occur in Africa and South Asia. The 10 countries with the highest numbers include Brazil, the United States, India and Nigeria, demonstrating that pre-term birth is truly a global problem. Of the 11 countries with pre-term birth rates of more than 15 per cent, all but two are in sub-Saharan Africa. In the poorest countries, on average, 12 per cent of babies are born too soon, compared with 9 per cent in higher-income countries.

Many factors, according to Save the Children - India CEO Thomas Chandy, contributed to the problem such as early marriage and pregnancy, inadequate nutritional intake by pregnant women, and want of adequate health interventions were among the reasons that contributed to such a high rate of pre-term pregnancy, exposing both the mother and the baby to risk.

The report defined pre-term as 37 weeks of completed gestation or less, which is the standard WHO definition