On Tuesday, a study published in the journal The Lancet showed that providing simple and cheap healthcare measures to pregnant women, such as offering aspirin, can prevent more than a million cases of stillbirth or infant mortality in developing countries every year.

In the study, an international team of experts revealed that one-quarter of all newborns are born either prematurely or underweight, based on the data collected from 81 low- and middle-income countries. They noted that by implementing eight proven strategies, they could avert more than 565,000 stillbirths.

These 8 strategies included providing micronutrients, protein, and energy supplements; low-dose aspirin; the hormone progesterone; education on the harms of smoking; and treatments for malaria, syphilis, and bacteria in the urine.

The findings of the study also showed that the deaths of more than 475,000 newborn babies could have been prevented if steroids had been provided to pregnant women on time and if the doctors had not immediately clamped the umbilical cord.

Additionally, in the study, the researchers used a definition for babies born prematurely or underweight. As per the study criteria, the traditional way to determine whether a baby was born with low birth weight, i.e., weighing under 2.5 kilograms (5.8 pounds), was "a bit randomly selected". The study results showed that 35.3 million, or one in four, born in 2020 were either premature or too small, dubbed "small vulnerable newborns". 

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/simple-measures-can-prevent-a-million-premature-babies-deaths-a-year-study/100099971 )