Women living in Indian cities may inhale 10 times more pollution than those living in rural areas of developed nations. According to a report of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) published in the latest issue of the journal, Environment International, " Air pollution may not just harm people who are breathing the air directly. It may also seriously affect a baby present in its mot her's womb." The report points out that women in India are more than 10 times at risk than their counterparts in rural areas of England or France. The SEI report states that 18 per cent of all pre-term births in South Asia are associated with outdoor exposure to fine particulate matter less than 2.5 microns, as it goes deep into the lungs. Apart from causing infant mortality, outdoor pollution may result in `life-long health effects' in surviving babies. Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports, city doctors say the viability of gestational age is 28 weeks. The survival rate of preterm delivery at 28 weeks or before is less than 40 per cent. If the foetus baby survives, it carries the risk of cerebral palsy , blindness and deafness.On the other hand, the survival rate at 32 weeks is 50 per cent, and the risk of cerebral palsy, blindness and deafness is less.About 75 per cent of the preterm baby deaths are avoidable.