Artificial intelligence is set to play a bigger role in maternal healthcare, but technology must complement—not replace—the clinical judgement, compassion and trust that define quality care, according to Samir Vieira, chief executive officer of the Fernandez Foundation.
As AI increasingly shapes clinical decision-making, *Samir* said the future of women’s healthcare will hinge on striking the right balance between digital innovation and human expertise. “Technology can support diagnosis and improve workflows, but it cannot replace clinical judgement, compassion or trust,” he said.
The 77-year-old maternal and newborn care provider has been laying the groundwork for AI adoption for more than two decades. Its electronic medical records system, developed in the early 2000s, now houses over 25 years of maternal and child health data, providing the foundation for AI-powered antenatal risk prediction models.
Using this repository, the foundation has developed models to identify high-risk pregnancies and predict complications such as preterm births, caesarean deliveries and postpartum haemorrhage. A study analysing more than one lakh consecutive births over 11 years, based on this data, has been published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of India.
*Samir* said AI’s biggest value lies in enabling clinicians to make faster and better-informed decisions rather than replacing them. He also observed that women today are taking a far more active role in their healthcare, arriving for consultations better informed and keen to participate in treatment decisions.
“Patients today want to be far more involved in their healthcare decisions than they were in the past. That is a positive development, not a challenge,” he said.
Beyond technology, *Samir* emphasised that attracting and retaining skilled healthcare professionals remains central to delivering quality care. While the healthcare sector continues to grapple with talent shortages, he attributed Fernandez Foundation’s ability to retain many doctors, nurses and midwives for years—some for decades—to a culture built on purpose, respect and professional growth.
He also dismissed the notion that affordable healthcare comes at the expense of financial sustainability. A financially sound institution, he said, is better equipped to invest in clinical quality, employee development and broader access to care.
“Every rupee saved through better processes can go back into improving healthcare delivery,” *Samir* said, adding that the real challenge for healthcare institutions is to demonstrate that AI-driven innovation and compassionate care can advance together.