As per records published by the Lancet Journal, India has recorded 3.02 million preterm births in 2020 -- the highest worldwide -- accounting for over 20 per cent of all preterm births globally.

The research by authors from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, showed that over 50 per cent of all preterm births in 2020 occurred in just eight countries.

These countries were India, followed by Pakistan, Nigeria, China, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the US.