How AI Is Reshaping Child Health In India

In various pockets of India, artificial intelligence is helping ensure children are in good health, right from birth

- Shadma Shaikh

Every morning, Jyotsna Patel sets out in Kachigam, a quiet coastal village in Daman, with her mobile phone, a wooden ruler, and a cloth sheet. For 13 years she's worked as an ASHA worker, India's all-purpose rural health army, crossing dusty lanes to check on new mothers, track malaria outbreaks, or ferry babies for vaccinations. These days, her routine includes something newer and stranger: recording videos of newborn babies.

"Earlier we had to carry weighing scales and tapes, which was difficult. Now, we just carry the phone and it shows us the baby's weight. Even in small villages, we can do proper measurement easily," she says.

Patel is referring to Shishu Mapan, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool trained on over 30,000 infants, built by scientists at the Wadhwani Institute for AI, a non-profit that develops AI-based solutions for social impact.

Using a short, arc-shaped video while the newborn is undressed and laid on a cloth sheet, the app estimates the infant's weight and growth metrics, which eliminates the need for scales or guesswork.

Initially skeptical, workers and mothers gained trust once the app showed accurate readings.

"When we first told mothers we would measure the child using a mobile phone, they thought we were joking. But when they saw the video and the weight appeared on the app, they were happy. Now they lay the sheet down themselves and want to see if their baby has gained weight," says Patel.

While most babies are weighed at birth, follow-up checks during the critical first six weeks are patchy, especially in rural and underserved areas. In this context, AI-powered tools like Wadhwani AI's app could become frontline essentials, capable of transforming child health outcomes where the system often falls short. It also eases the burden on frontline health workers, who often struggle to keep up with high demand in rural areas.