South West staff recognised for helping to reduce preterm and early term birth

The Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance at Bunbury Regional Hospital is in the running to take home Health Team of the Year at the 2024 WA Rural Health Excellence Awards.

The Alliance forms part of National Preterm Birth Prevention Collaborative – an 18-month project with 52 hospitals from around Australia committing to a goal of reducing preterm and early term birth by 20 per cent.

Regional Director of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Dr Lauren Megaw, Registered Midwives Courtney Catalano and Kristen Francis, Patient Safety and Quality Representative Chris Paterson, and Consumer Representative Lisa O’Donoghue make up the project team.

The wider team includes colleagues from data analytics, population health, pharmacy, radiology, and the maternity and obstetric team.

Dr Lauren Megaw said the team were proud to be nominated and excited to be part of the Alliance.

“This is an opportunity to celebrate the effort the entire maternity team has put in to reducing preterm birth,” Dr Megaw said.

“The joint efforts across midwifery, obstetrics, general practice, radiology providers and pharmacies and their goal to reduce preterm birth would not be possible without the Alliance.

“Keeping mums, families and babies together and healthy in their communities, has flow on benefits for the whole of life.”

The strategies implemented build on WA-based research identifying that measurement of cervical length at the mid-pregnancy scan, coupled with use of progesterone between 16 and 36 weeks, is effective at reducing the risk or pre and early term birth.

The team are no strangers to accolades, having taken out the Golden Ruler Award earlier in the year at a National Preterm Birth Prevention Collaborative forum.

The awards will be announced at a ceremony Saturday 16 March 2024.