Rule-Based System for Pregnancy Monitoring

During the pregnancy period, it is important to monitor the baby’s and the mother's condition. Many tests are necessary during pregnancy, from screen tests for chromosomal abnormalities detection in a fetus to disease diagnosis tests for the mother. The results of those tests should be taken into consideration when defining prenatal care policies. Inadequate prenatal care is associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight newborns. This paper proposes a software solution for improving prenatal care by allowing cooperation between doctors and expert systems. Integrating expert system knowledge and experience within the rule-based system to guide doctor decisions can produce more adequate and safer prenatal care and reduce the infant mortality rate. The proposed system detects diseases based on symptoms and chromosomal abnormalities based on different parameters. Also, it monitors cardiotocography and calculates its results. This system is an expert system based on rules. During runtime, rules can be modified and changed without affecting the application workings. The proposed system is not a replacement for doctors, it can be seen as a support system for medical personalities.