Research overview
Preterm birth, defined as birth before 37 completed pregnancy weeks, is the single greatest cause of death in young children and a major cause of lifetime disability.
One in 11 Western Australians is born too early and early births among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations are almost doubled.
Prevention of preterm birth has immediate benefits for women, their children and their families along with the substantial social and economic benefits to the healthcare system and society.
Early identification of pregnant women at high risk of preterm birth may reduce the burden of preterm birth in Western Australia.
The WA Preterm Birth Prevention Initiative was implemented across WA in 2014 aiming to safely reduce preterm birth. The preterm birth reduction by 7.6% statewide and by 20% at King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH) was achieved in the first year of the Initiative (2015). This preterm birth reduced rate remained only at KEMH in the latest evaluation of births until 2019.
This deterioration of the Initiative’s impact outside of the tertiary hospital may be addressed by improved identification of women at high risk of preterm.
Timely identification of women at high risk of preterm before their first antenatal visit at an obstetric hospital will enable improved referral pathways, increased monitoring and more targeted interventions directed at delaying or averting preterm birth and arranging for obstetric and neonatal management at an appropriate hospital.
This project aimed to identify the factors predisposing women to increased risk of preterm birth, and to develop preterm birth risk prediction tools based on this modelling.
Project researchers
Professor Dorota Doherty
Partners
The University of Western Australia
Funders
Channel 7 Telethon Trust
Project timeline
2022 – 2023
