Doctors currently estimate the fetus’s birth date by adding 40 weeks to the first day of the mother’s last menstrual period. This approximate calculation, known as the “Naegele’s rule,” assumes a 28-day menstrual cycle with ovulation on the 14th day, which does not apply to many women. In the UK, only four percent of babies are born on their expected due date, according to the Daily Mail. However, a group of American researchers says that using artificial intelligence to analyze ultrasound images can predict the baby’s birth date with up to 95% accuracy. Using a program developed and trained with over two million ultrasound images of women who gave birth between 2017 and 2020, scientists measured how well AI could estimate whether the baby would be born on time. Commenting on these results, Dr.

John O’Brien, Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Kentucky, said: “Artificial intelligence is now reaching inside the womb to help us predict the birth date accurately, which will lead to improved healthcare for mothers worldwide.”