JOHN YANG: Last year, one in 10 U.S.

babies# was born before 37 weeks of pregnancy,## which is considered preterm.

The# March of Dimes says that's one## of the highest premature birth# rates among developed nations.

Preterm births can have long term health# effects and are hard to predict.

Ali Rogin## spoke with an entrepreneur who's using AI to# help doctors know when it's likely.

But first,## March of Dimes helped connect Ali with parents of# preterm babies to hear about their experiences.

ERICA SHOEMATE: My name is Erica# Shoemate and I am Mia's mom.

ROXANNE ROMEO: Hi.

My name is# Roxanne Romeo and I'm Zara's mom.

LUCERO PAYANO: My name is Lucero# Payano and I am Zael's mother.

RUBEN CONTRERAS: My name is Ruben# Contreras and I'm Zael's dad.

ASHLEY O'NEIL: My name is Ashley# o' Neil and I am Collin's mom.

EMMA LEE GREENLEY: My name is Emma# Lee Greenley and I'm Lois's mom.

ERICA SHOEMATE: My baby was born at 24# weeks, 2 days.

He she weighed 1 pound 7## ounces or the best that they could measure# so quick.

She was intubated immediately.

ROXANNE ROMEO: Zara was born at 26 weeks# and four days.

She weighed 2 pounds,## 6.7 ounces and she spent 93 days in the NICU.

LUCERO PAYANO: Zael was 25 weeks# and two days when I delivered him.

ERICA SHOEMATE: We learned that my daughter# actually has Ellis van Crevel syndrome,## which has less than 300 cases reported in# the world, but it's highly concentrated## in the Amish Dutch population.

It's very rare# in general, but then to be a family of color,## we only know two other families of color that# have been directly impacted in the world.

ASHLEY O'NEIL: I went into labor with Collins at## 25 weeks gestation at a small community# hospital that didn't have the resources## to properly care for a child.

He was# born at roughly a pound and a half.

ROXANNE ROMEO: Every day I would have to# call in the morning to talk to one of the## NICU nurses to find out how many# episodes she had the night before,## which is when a baby stops breathing.

And to even# imagine your child not breathing is just crazy.

ASHLEY O'NEIL: He fought.

He# was a feisty little thing,## repeatedly pulled out all of his# tubes.

But he came home 183 days later.

EMMA LEE GREENLEY: Lois is five years old now.# She is in preschool.

She's doing very well.

ERICA SHOEMATE: She just turned 8 on# September 27th.

It has been an honor,## a privilege to be this little rock star's mom.

ROXANNE ROMEO: She is a spunky, sassy little# toddler.

She's gonna be three in December.

LUCERO PAYANO: He is, thank God,## doing amazing.

When I tell people that# he's a 25-weeker, their jaws drop.

ASHLEY O'NEIL: Collin is six now.

He is in the# first grade.

He loves school.

He is non-speaking,## uses a communication device.

He does boss me# around, mom, iPad, please.

He has the best smile## that lights up a room.

He loves playing tricks# on his teachers.

If they ask him a question,## he'll hover over the right answer, giggle and# hit the wrong answer and giggle some more.

ROXANNE ROMEO: I just encourage people to# learn more about prematurity, especially## if you know you're pregnant or if you plan to# have a child.

And I'm not just talking about## women.

Fathers need to be in the know as well# because they are definitely part of this journey.

ERICA SHOEMATE: To anyone that is navigating this# thing that you never sign up for as a parent,## just know that you can get through it.

There# is life and love on the other side.

And also## to allow yourself the moments to grief, to# grieve through the grief of the pregnancy## you didn't have.

The parenthood experience# that you are not having or will not have,## and to also not allow yourself to# get in the business of comparing## your child to someone else's who is# not having the same experience as you.

ASHLEY O'NEIL: I share my story# a lot just to tell other people## that like I know how dark it can# get.

But if you just keep going,## eventually you'll find the light.

It may# not be as bright as you imagined or even the## same colors you imagine your light would look# like, but it can still beautiful nonetheless.

ALI ROGIN: We now turn to Robert Bunn,# an entrepreneur who knows this issue## firsthand.

He and his wife have four# daughters, but his wife experienced nine## miscarriages along the way.

Her experience# inspired him to work on technology that can## help predict whether a pregnancy will end# in a premature birth and help a medical## team prepare for that outcome.

Robert,# thank you so much for being here with us.

ROBERT BUNN, Founder, Ultrasound AI:# Thank you.

It's a pleasure to be here.

ALI ROGIN: Tell me a little bit more about# what you and.. your family and how that inspired# you to begin working in this field.

ROBERT BUNN: Sure.

We were# beginning to start our family.## My wife suffered numerous miscarriages,# and I was beginning to wonder why this## could happen over and over and# nothing could be done about it.

After doing a bit of research, because# I have no medical background, I had to## do some research to understand the problem.# What I realized is that the reason there's so## many premature births is because typically# they're a surprise.

And when they happen,## it's too late to do anything about that time.# And doctors typically don't have any forewarning.

And I so thought maybe if I could create# an AI that could predict that a premature## birth is impending, then doctors would# have a fighting chance to prevent that,## and they have time to do something about it.

ALI ROGIN: How does this technology know what# to look for and flag issues, potential issues?

ROBERT BUNN: I eventually learned that the# solution is to obtain millions of ultrasound## images, and then I have the outcomes of what# happened to those babies in those images.

Then## what I did is I created an AI that could# figure out how to map what was the pixels## in the images to what actually happened.# And I had to build a supercomputer from## parts in my basement to get the computer power# necessary.

And it took months to train this AI.

But basically what the AI eventually learned# how to do was to find patterns in these images## that then correlated to the actual outcomes, which# opened up a whole lot of new discoveries, as well## as the capability to predict the delivery date of# these babies, which then, of course, the doctors## could then act upon and determine if that was# going to work or if they needed to do something.

ALI ROGIN: Why is it traditionally so# difficult to screen for prematurity?

ROBERT BUNN: One is because ultrasound images are# not -- are hard to read.

They're very noisy.

It's## very hard to see things in them.

There are# some things that doctors know that typically## lead to premature birth, but those things# typically only happen to a small percentage## of women.

But the vast majority of women is# just you have a history of premature birth## or history of miscarriages.

So therefore# we'll monitor you closely in the future.

But it's not -- the accuracy is not as good as it# could be.

And I think that's the problem I needed## to solve is to give doctors very precise# delivery dates of when these babies were## going to be delivered so then they could# then act confidently to treat those women.

ALI ROGIN: I understand your technology is already## being used in countries in South America.# What have the results been like there?

ROBERT BUNN: They've been in trial use in# both Brazil and Chile and the doctors are## extremely happy.

Probably the biggest thing that# makes them happy is the fact that it's able to## identify the women who are on their first# child who may have a premature birth so they## can make sure those women get the care they# need they would not have gotten otherwise.

Then there's also the case where there's high risk# pregnancies and they want to keep the babies in## as long as possible because that reduces time# in NICU and they have a good idea of when the## baby's going to spontaneously deliver and# a spontaneous deliver may not be the best## choice in that case.

And they can do# a C section right before then.

So it## helps them time the deliveries that need# to be much better and have better outcomes.

ALI ROGIN: And then what's your outlook for# becoming available to people here in the US.

ROBERT BUNN: So we've recently submitted our# final review for the FDA and we hope to have## approval here very soon, maybe within the# next few months.

Nothing life is uncertain,## but we feel very good about this technology and## that its ability to begin saving the# lives of babies in America here too.

ALI ROGIN: Robert Bunn with# Ultrasound AI.

Thank you so much.

ROBERT BUNN: Thank you.# It's a pleasure being here.