Toward more predictable birthdays

Low-cost methods for monitoring fetal development could improve prenatal care, especially in low-resource settings. By measuring the levels of certain placental RNA transcripts in maternal blood, Ngo et al. developed two noninvasive blood tests that provide a window into the progression of individual pregnancies. In a small proof-of-concept study, the first blood test predicted fetal age and delivery date with an accuracy comparable to that of ultrasound. The second blood test, also examined in a small pilot study, discriminated women at risk of preterm delivery from those who delivered at full term. The next step will be to assess the reliability of the tests in large, blinded clinical trials.