The Australian Government is investing $5.3 million to help ensure women carry their babies to full term, avoiding the dangers of premature birth.
The multi-million-dollar investment to Women's Healthcare Australasia will extend the implementation of Every Week Counts: The Australian Preterm and Early Term Birth Prevention program.
Preterm birth is the single greatest cause of death in young children worldwide. It is also a major cause of disability, including cerebral palsy, blindness, and deafness, and behavioural and learning problems.
In 2022, close to 25,000 babies were born preterm (between 20 and 37 full weeks gestation) in Australia. The rate of preterm birth in Indigenous mothers was almost double that of non-Indigenous mothers.
The Every Week Counts program, developed by the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance, will build on the success of the government-funded, world-leading National Preterm Birth Prevention Program which ran from 2022 to 2024. More than 50 maternity hospitals participated from all regions of Australia.
This national program brings together obstetricians, midwives, GPs, sonographers, neonatologists with consumers and quality improvement experts from maternity hospitals across the country, to safely reduce rates of early birth.
Through in-person Learning Sessions and online QI platforms, the program is supporting participating hospitals to adopt evidence-based changes in clinical care and foster an enduring culture of better practice.
Early data from the Program shows the number of early term babies born at participating maternity services dropped by 11 per cent when they implemented the program. This equated to more than 4,000 babies who had a better start to life.
Women's Healthcare Australasia will work with the Alliance's clinical leaders in each state and territory to implement the Every Week Counts strategies to reduce preterm and early term birth, including:
- educating women and health staff of the importance of allowing all pregnancies to safely continue to at least 39 weeks, wherever possible
- ultrasound measurement of cervical length in mid-pregnancy
- use of vaginal progesterone when indicated
- helping pregnant women to quit smoking
- promoting continuity of care and
- developing and testing a plan for prescription of aspirin to women identified as being at risk of developing preterm preeclampsia.
Women's Healthcare Australasia will also partner with First Nations maternity leaders and services to expand access to culturally safe continuity of pregnancy care models which have been shown to reduce rates of harmful early birth.
Quote attributable to Assistant Minister Kearney:
"Every baby deserves the best start in life and extending this program nationwide will save thousands of families from the terrible trauma of having a sick baby in intensive care.
"Already over 4,000 babies have had a better start to life thanks to Every Week Counts. As a member of the Albanese Labor Government, I'm proud to be supporting this program through a further $5.3 million investment.
"Every Week Counts uses simple, effective strategies that can make a huge difference by identifying women at risk of preterm birth and supporting them through their pregnancy.
"This investment is a wonderful step forward for all new families especially for First Nations women and their babies."
