Every Week Counts: National Preterm Birth Prevention Collaborative
A nationwide initiative working to safely reduce preterm and early-term births by 20 percent across Australia, in partnership with the Australian Alliance for Preterm Birth Prevention and Women’s Healthcare Australasia.
Funder
Australian Commonwealth, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Core Partners (3)
- Australian Alliance for Preterm Birth Prevention — Clinical leadership
- Women’s Healthcare Australasia — Administration, quality improvement leadership, and fund management
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement — Quality improvement leadership
Additional Partner Organizations (8)
- Menzies School of Health Research
- Clinical Excellence Queensland
- Clinical Excellence Commission, New South Wales
- Safer Care Victoria
- SA Health
- King Edward Memorial Hospital
- Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth
- Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand
Impact at a Glance: National Preterm Birth Prevention Collaborative
9.6% reduction
in early-term births across participating hospitals
4,000 early births
estimated to be prevented annually
63 maternity hospitals
participated in the first National Collaborative
54% of public births
represented by hospitals in the first Collaborative
IHI's role:
- Provided quality improvement leadership and expertise
- Applied the IHI Breakthrough Series Collaborative Model
- Supported teams in testing and refining clinical strategies
- Guided implementation across local healthcare environments
Professor John Newnham AM
Chair of the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance
Chair of the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance
It has been inspiring to see the amazing work being done by the hospital teams participating...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.
Amber Bates
Consumer Lead
Consumer Lead
It's brilliant to hear from all of the teams how excited they are to cooperate and work together to reduce the rates of preterm birth nationally. They are learning from one another, and they are listening to consumers, and they are adapting the things that they might like to implement in their local environment to suit their consumers and their local settings. Together they are making a huge difference to reduce the rates of preterm birth.
Professor Jonathan Morris AM
Deputy Chair of the Australian Alliance for Preterm Birth Prevention and President of Women’s Healthcare Australasia
Deputy Chair of the Australian Alliance for Preterm Birth Prevention and President of Women’s Healthcare Australasia
Perhaps the most important learning is what a true collaborative is. What’s most exciting to see that across the country, despite the undoubted workforce pressures and the demand for our services, we have such an army of people who are just striving to make things happen for the betterment of our mothers and babies. It’s true collaboration that is so impressive.
The Challenge
Preterm birth is the leading cause of death and disability in children up to five years of age. Babies who are born between 39 and 41 weeks have better health outcomes after birth and are less likely to require intensive care. Additionally, families are less likely to experience long-term problems affecting their child’s health, cognition, and behavioural development. The costs associated with preterm and early term birth are significant, with the financial impact on the Australian Government estimated to be 1.43B AUD in 2016. More than 26,000 babies are born prematurely in Australia annually, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers have nearly double the pre-term rate of non-Aboriginal mothers. This multi-year program of work seeks to decrease the rate of preterm and early term birth by 20% across Australia between 2022 to 2028.
Solution
The Australian Preterm Birth Prevention program includes eight evidence-based clinical strategies:
- Avoid ending a pregnancy before 39 weeks unless medically or obstetrically indicated.
- Measure cervical length during all mid-pregnancy scans.
- Prescribe natural vaginal progesterone when the cervix is shorter than 25 mm.
- Consider cervical cerclage if the cervix continues to shorten despite progesterone treatment.
- Prescribe vaginal progesterone for women with a history of spontaneous preterm birth.
- Identify women who smoke and offer them Quitline support.
- Provide continuity of care from a healthcare professional throughout pregnancy whenever possible.
- Screen for and prevent preterm pre-eclampsia.
To date, the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention program has included multiple rounds of work. The first National Collaborative was conducted from October 2022 to June 2024 involving 63 maternity services representing 54 percent of Australia’s public births. A second National Collaborative began May 2025 and ran until June 2026, involving 61 maternity hospitals, approximately half of which are continuing from the first Collaborative. In early 2026, the Australian Commonwealth announced continued funding of the program through June 2028 with an expanded focus on early pre-eclampsia screening and culturally safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
The use of IHI’s Breakthrough Series Collaborative has enabled staff from a diverse set of participating hospitals to optimize implementation of the clinical strategies in their own unique health-care environments.
Results from the First National Collaborative
October 1, 2022–June 30, 2024 | Analysis based on 458,542 births
The early-term birth rate in participating hospitals decreased from 30.5 percent in the pre-Collaborative period to 27.7 percent, a 9.6 percent decrease.
The preterm birth rate remained steady at 5.97 percent.
No impact was seen on stillbirth rates.
Reliability of cervical length screening increased by 9 percent from mean of 84 percent at baseline to 93 percent during the implementation period
What’s next
The next National Collaborative, set to begin in late 2026 and run through June 2028, has been funded to continue to expand impacts on preterm and early term birth with a specific focus on early preterm pre-eclampsia screening, culturally safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and continued work to safely extend timing of birth.