National Preterm Birth Prevention Program expanded after 11 per cent drop in early births | USAEMALL.com

An estimated 4000 babies were prevented from being born too early each year of a three-year program geared towards reducing preterm births.

And the national program is now being further expanded thanks to a $5.3 million funding injection from the Federal Government announced this week.

Early birth is the leading cause of death and disability in children under five, with roughly one in 12 babies in Australia born premature, or more than 26,000 babies. That rate is almost double for First Nations babies at just under one in six babies.

It can lead to serious health and developmental complications, such as cerebral palsy or learning and behavioural problems, and costs the Federal Government an estimated $1.4 billion annually.

The Every Week Counts National Preterm Birth Prevention Program was born from an initiative pioneered by Professor John Newnham, head of UWA’s obstetrics and gynaecology division and 2020 Senior Australian of the Year, at King Edward Memorial Hospital in 2014.

It showed promising results and was rolled out nationally in 2018 alongside the founding of the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance.

Sixty Australian hospitals participated in the national iteration of the program between October 2021 and March 2024, representing 54 per cent of Australia’s annual public births.

It brought together obstetricians, midwives, GPs, sonographers, neonatologists, consumers and quality improvement experts from maternity hospitals nationwide with a shared goal.

Early data shows the number of preterm babies born at participating hospitals dropped by 11 per cent when they implemented the program — equating to about 4000 babies a year. The program’s final results are set for release in the coming months.

“It has been inspiring to see the amazing work being done by the hospital teams participating in the first phase of the national program,” Professor Newnham said.

“These teams have generously shared ideas, know-how and data with each other on how to support more women to safely continue their pregnancy to 39 weeks.

“Together they have already averted more than 4000 untimely early births, making a big impact on the lives of those children and their families.”

With renewed buy-in from the Commonwealth, the alliance will expand its scope into early pregnancy screening for preterm birth risk factors, safely prolonging pregnancy by reducing early caesareans or inductions, and implementing culturally safe continuity of care models for First Nations women and babies.

KEMH will continue in round two of the program, joined by Fiona Stanley Hospital, Osborne Park Hospital, Armadale Health Service, Bunbury Regional Hospital, Rockingham General Hospital, St John of God Hospital Midland and Bentley Health Service.

Women’s Healthcare Australasia chief executive Barb Vernon said the renewed funding will also bring best practice in preterm birth prevention to other maternity hospitals across Australia.

“There’s strong interest from hospitals that missed out on the first collaborative to join this inspiring program and learn about evidence-based strategies for better detecting and responding to risk factors for early birth” Dr Vernon said.

Some of those key strategies developed by the alliance include promoting the importance of continuity of care, strongly discouraging smoking whilst pregnant, and prescribing vaginal progesterone to women with a shortened cervix or history of spontaneous preterm birth.

The latest strategy in the works is a screening program to test if women at the 11-14 week mark are at risk of preeclampsia, a high blood pressure condition responsible for one in 10 premature births.