GARBH-INi initiative

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Jitendra Singh announced that India’s largest pregnancy cohort study, conducted under the GARBH-INi initiative, is set to transform maternal and child healthcare through indigenous, AI-driven solutions aimed at tackling preterm birth—a leading cause of neonatal mortality and long-term health complications.

Highlighting the scale and importance of the initiative, the Minister noted that India accounts for a substantial share of the global burden of preterm births, underscoring the need for context-specific solutions tailored to Indian conditions.

The GARBH-INi programme adopts a comprehensive, data-driven approach, integrating:

• Clinical epidemiology
• Multi-omics biomarkers
• Artificial intelligence for personalised risk prediction

The study has successfully enrolled around 12,000 pregnant women, making it one of the largest pregnancy cohorts in South Asia. It has also created a significant research resource, including:

• Over 1.6 million well-characterised biospecimens
• More than 1 million ultrasound images

These datasets are expected to support cutting-edge research and enable early identification of high-risk pregnancies.

On the occasion, Dr. Singh also released a compendium documenting key learnings and outcomes of the GARBH-INi initiative, marking a major milestone in India’s efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal health risks through advanced scientific innovation.

Source: PIB