Maternal mortality is unacceptably high. As a leading cause of maternal mortality, preeclampsia and related hypertensive disorders of pregnancy claim the lives of nearly 76,000 women and 500,000 babies worldwide every year. This lifethreatening complication of pregnancy can be prevented by better diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring.

PreFree is an AI-based decision support tool for physicians to identify pregnant women at risk for pregnancy complications, especially preeclampsia. This patient-centered solution was developed based on a clinical outcome database and interviews with patients and physicians. The solution aims to support physicians to identify the individual risk for preeclampsia, to decide whether to hospitalize patients in need and to allow patients with low risk to return to their homes. The decision support solution will be complemented by a remote monitoring system that enables women returning home to closely monitor their signs and symptoms in a close contact with their physicians.

PreFree intends to reduce the risk of false diagnosis, to avoid unnecessary hospitalization, and to reduce healthcare costs by patient-centered remote care within the support system and convenience of their homes.

In the future, the system can add new technologies for additional benefits, be scaled to other regions with even higher prevalence of preeclampsia, and be extended to other pregnancy complications.

Team PreFree consists of a team of medical doctors of the Department of Obstetrics from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and a PhD student with machine learning and software development expertise. The team is supported by advisors in machine learning, patient-centric care, business matters and reimbursement.