Meet the start-up working to save newborn babies and democratize pregnancy care

More than 2 million babies died in the first 20 days of their lives in 2022, equating to around 6,500 deaths a day, according to the World Health Organization.

On top of that, almost 800 women a day died from "preventable causes" in pregnancy or childbirth in 2020, an "unacceptably high" figure, the WHO says.

A Singapore-based startup, Biorithm, hopes to help solve the problem with a device that women can use at home to monitor their pregnancy, while a connected mobile app transmits information such as the baby's heart rate directly to clinicians for review.

"Women's health [care] has been geared towards treating women who are sick and not keeping women well," said Amrish Nair, Biorithm's chief technology officer and co-founder.

"We're trying to provide technology that puts power back into women's hands … It's no longer in hospital, but now empowering women to be able to receive care in the place of their choosing," he said, speaking to CNBC's "CNBC Tech: The Edge."

Biorithm's device, Femom, monitors both the maternal and fetal heart rate, and is designed to be simple to use, with the woman's navel used as a guide for accurate placement. It can be used during contractions, providing information to clinicians for interventions where necessary.

Monitoring takes about 20 to 30 minutes, according to Sihem Tedjar, Biorithm's product development lead.

"It's very easy to use for a non trained person or a non-health care professional, and that's where the usability and all the design work reside," Tedjar said. Femom's five electrodes capture electrical signals at the surface of the abdomen and transmit information to a dashboard, accessible by medical staff.

"This device answer[s] a very basic question of all parents: how well is my