Health experts and researchers are exploring how wearable technology and artificial intelligence (AI) can help detect potentially life-threatening complications during labour earlier, as they seek to improve monitoring of mothers and babies and prevent avoidable deaths. The effort is being advanced through the Intelligent Pregnancy Products Platform (I3P), a programme funded by the Gates Foundation through Sibel Health, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Rwanda and other universities from India, Nigeria and Pakistan. It combines wearable technology, AI and implementation research to generate evidence for health policy and reduce preventable maternal and newborn deaths. The programme is being discussed at the I3P Global Annual Meeting, taking place September 14–15 at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition Centre. Hosted by the University of Rwanda, the meeting brings together researchers, clinicians, digital health innovators and development partners to review findings from the Intrapartum Monitoring Platform: leAding chiLdbirth sAfety (IMPALA) studies. Addressing preventable deaths Opening the meeting, University of Rwanda Vice Chancellor Prof Didas Muganga said maternal and newborn deaths remain a major global challenge. “Every year, close to 300,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth, more than two million babies die in their first month of life, and around two million more are stillborn,” he said, citing World Health Organisation figures. According to the 2025 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey, the country’s maternal mortality ratio has fallen from 1,071 to 149 deaths per 100,000 live births over the past three decades. Despite the progress, Muganga said the goal should be to prevent every avoidable maternal and newborn death. “We wouldn't be wishing to see even a single death, especially when it is avoidable,” Muganga said. “No mother should die while giving life, and no child should die or suffer lifelong disability.” “We wouldn't be wishing to see even a single death, especially when it is avoidable,” Muganga said. “No mother should die while giving life, and no child should die or suffer lifelong disability.” The programme, Muganga observed, could help address remaining challenges through multidisciplinary research and urged researchers to focus on solutions that can be adopted at scale. “I would like to encourage you to focus not only on the scientific proceedings, but also on how we can translate these innovations into practical, affordable and scalable solutions that can improve the lives of mothers and newborns, particularly in this part of the world where we are in this resource-limited setting,” he said. Monitoring mother and baby Dr David Ntirushwa, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), said complications can develop rapidly during labour, making intermittent monitoring challenging. IMPALA, he indicated, is testing whether wearable devices can continuously monitor mothers and babies during labour and identify complications early. “When a woman is in labour, our main objective is to have a live mother and a live baby. But unfortunately, it can happen so quickly that the maternal physiology deteriorates,” he said. Complications such as bleeding can cause rapid changes in a mother's vital signs, while a baby who was initially doing well can also deteriorate suddenly. Under conventional monitoring, health workers may check women at intervals, sometimes around every 30 minutes. But Ntirushwa said this can leave gaps, particularly when healthcare providers are responsible for several women at the same time. “Within 30 minutes, you can see many changes which you will not be able to identify unless you have the capability of monitoring continuously,” he said. The wearable devices monitor maternal and fetal physiology while allowing women to move during labour. “If this is possible, we can identify early any change from the mother or from the baby and intervene as quickly as possible,” Ntirushwa said. The technology also provides information from both mother and baby simultaneously. “With other technology, you come and listen to the baby alone and then you listen to the mother later. But with this technology, we get the information simultaneously from both the mother and the baby, which helps us to make a better decision,” he said. Scaling up the trial Dr Rosemary Townsend, an obstetrician at the University of Edinburgh, said the first IMPALA phase involved 13 hospitals in four countries and more than 400 women. The next phase will involve more than 13,000 women across 30 hospitals in the four countries “The trial itself will make a difference to every woman who is part of the trial, but also help us learn more about labour so that we can make labour and birth safer,” she said. Prof Faustin Ntirenganya, Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Rwanda and Principal investigator for I3P project in Rwanda said that the idea is to improve maternal and child health, strengthening collaboration between surgeons and Obstetricians to move forward across all surgical specialties together. He added that this is a unique opportunity to connect the University of Rwanda with international partners like the University of Edinburgh, University of Lagos, Aga Khan University and beyond. “Obstetric gynaecology is a surgical specialty and that's why we are extending our reach to that field of medicine,” he said. Rwanda's IMPALA network involves 14 partner hospitals, about 200 collaborators and 20 research associates from Global Surgery Research Hub of the University of Rwanda. “The local IMPALA will strengthen our collaboration in research, improve capacity building and advocacy, as well as contribute to policy development, leveraging opportunities and improving our multidisciplinary synergy,” Prof Ntirenganya said. Indeed, the meeting should strengthen partnerships that can translate research and innovation into practical solutions and ultimately help reduce preventable maternal and newborn deaths.
