Test helps combat risk for early babies

A NEW test promises to revolutionise the prevention of premature birth by accurately predicting the chances of pre-term delivery up to three months in advance, scientists have said.

The “pencil-looking” noninvasive device will save the NHS £1 billion a year and can alert doctors to tell-tale accumulations of moisture in the cervix, giving them the chance to intervene and artificially prolong pregnancy.

The new test, which has been trialled at an NHS hospital in Sheffield, takes a maximum of 15 seconds and is so simple it could be used by GPs or nursing staff.

Gynaecologists currently have to rely on time-consuming and expensive procedures such as ultrasounds or fetal fibronectin swabs, which yield many false positives and, even when accurate, can predict only premature birth a few days hence.

By contrast, the new device can detect tiny amounts of moisture on the outside of the body and uses wireless technology to send a signal to a computer that gives the medic a “red, amber, green” result indicating how likely a premature birth is. The test, which could be ready to roll out across the NHS within three years, can accurately predict premature birth from as early as 20 weeks’ gestation.

Professor Dilly Anumba, who is leading the research at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital, said: “If we are able to identify women at real risk, then we can target them for treatments way before pre-term birth occurs to reduce the risks of either the baby dying, or the extremely premature baby surviving with cerebral palsy or other problems associated with prematurity.”

Around 60,000 babies are born early each year in the UK and complications from pre-term delivery are the leading single cause of deaths in children aged under five, while one in four babies born before 28 weeks suffers life-long complications.

Once doctors know that a mother-to-be is at risk of giving birth prematurely, they can use the hormone progesterone or antibiotics to delay delivery. The knowledge can also give women a better chance of being near the hospitals best equipped to look after premature newborns.