Machine Learning Models for Predicting Risky Pregnancies in Early Clinical Interventions

Background: Risky pregnancies present significant challenges in maternal healthcare, often requiring accurate prediction to prevent adverse outcomes. Machine learning (ML) models offer a promising approach for predicting such risks, enabling timely interventions. This study evaluates five machine learning models—Logistic Regression, Decision Tree, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Naive Bayes, and Support Vector Machine (SVM)—for their effectiveness in predicting risky pregnancies using clinical datasets. Methods: The study developed and evaluated five ML models, each implemented using Python’s scikit-learn library. The dataset was split into 75% for training and 25% for testing. Standard classification metrics, including accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score, were used to assess model performance. Hyperparameter tuning was conducted using grid search and cross-validation to optimize model parameters. The models’ performance was compared to identify the most suitable for clinical applications. Results: The Decision Tree model achieved the highest accuracy (100% on training data, 95.6% on testing data), along with excellent precision, recall, and F1-scores for both classes, making it the most accurate and interpretable model for predicting risky pregnancies. Logistic Regression also performed well, particularly in identifying high-risk cases, with testing accuracy of 82%. KNN and SVM provided moderate accuracy, with KNN achieving 78% testing accuracy and SVM 80%. Naive Bayes, however, performed poorly, achieving only 43.2% accuracy due to its assumption of feature independence, which was not suitable for the dataset. Conclusion: The Decision Tree and Logistic Regression models emerged as the most effective for predicting risky pregnancies, offering high accuracy and interpretability, crucial for clinical decision-making.