Each year in the U.S., 400,000 babies are born prematurely, which can cause breathing challenges, infections, and developmental delays, and some premature babies don’t survive. Now there’s a blood test, PreTRM, that can alert doctors and expectant moms about who is likely to deliver early. For those women, low dose aspirin, progestin, and regular nurse calls can dramatically lower their probability of delivering early, and in turn reduce the chance of some of the health risks linked to premature birth.
Zhenya Lindgardt, CEO of Sera Prognostics, which developed the test, was convinced that creating a simple way to identify which women are at highest chance of delivering prematurely was critical to saving babies lives and improving their health. Many women who deliver preterm don’t have clear risk factors associated with premature delivery, which include having a short cervix or a previous preterm birth. Lindgardt worked with scientists to identify elevated levels of two specific protein markers in the blood during a strict window of pregnancy, from 18 to 20 weeks, that accurately predict the probability of preterm birth.
In early 2025, a study found that PreTRM can lower NICU admissions by 20% for babies born to moms at risk of delivering early. It’s just the first of an ongoing series of studies that Lindgardt says will build the medical case for ultimately offering the test to every pregnant woman. For now, doctors can order the test, but it’s not yet covered by insurance. Lindgardt is working with state Medicaid programs to get PreTRM covered in their states as more data becomes available.