New data has shown that a world-first initiative to reduce preterm births in Australia has led to a significant decrease in rates of potentially harmful early birth and improved pregnancy outcomes for women across the country.
Published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women's Health, the study presents detailed outcomes from a six-year preterm birth prevention program first introduced in mid-2018.
Preterm birth – defined as birth before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy – remains a leading cause of death and long-term disability in children worldwide.
In response to rising rates of potentially harmful early birth across the country, the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance launched a comprehensive preterm birth prevention program in 2018.
Professor of Obstetrics at The University of Western Australia, and Chair and Founder of the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance, Professor John Newnham said the 'proof of concept' phase for the program had been modelled on a pioneering initiative delivered in Western Australia.
"From 2018-2021, broad implementation of preterm birth prevention strategies across the country through the Alliance were found to have lowered the rate of preterm birth by 10 per cent," Professor Newnham said.
"These strategies were chosen for their high evidential basis of their effectiveness and suitability for the Australian healthcare environment.
"In 2021, we then expanded the methodology through the Commonwealth-funded 'Every Week Counts National Program' – a collaboration of 59 major hospitals working together to lower the rate of birth in the early term ages (37-39 weeks).
"Overall, we have shown that using current knowledge we can lower the rate of harmful early birth by about 7-10 per cent."
The real face of this reduction is an approximate 4000 fewer case of early birth each year across Australia since the program was launched.
Caring for preterm infants remains extremely expensive, and the socioeconomic impact is immense.
A 2020 cost analysis revealed the annual cost of untimely early birth to the Australian Government was $1.4 billion each year with more than $350 million of this spend on those needing education assistance due to their early birth. A 10 per cent reduction in early birth equates to a saving to the Federal Government of at least $100 million each year.
In March 2025, the Commonwealth announced new funding to expand Australia's world-first national program to safely reduce rates of preterm and early term birth with a focus on improving pregnancy outcomes for First Nations mothers.
To support health services to adopt and spread evidence-based practice, the Alliance partnered with Women's Healthcare Australasia and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
CEO of Women's Healthcare Australasia and Co-Chair of the Australian Preterm and Early Term Birth Prevention Program, Dr Barb Vernon said the publication of the Lancet paper would be critical in propelling the efforts of teams involved in Round 2 of the national program.
"In our current phase, we are working with teams from more than 40 hospitals across the country to strengthen their efforts and create even more impactful outcomes for women and babies across Australia."
Dr Vernon said implementing culturally safe continuity of care models for First Nations women and babies continues to be a key area of focus.
"Unfortunately, First Nations babies are twice as likely as non-indigenous babies to be born too early," she said.
"We know we need to expand access to culturally safe and trauma-informed maternity care services, co-designed and delivered with First Nations communities and healthcare professionals if we are serious about addressing this inequity.
"As always, there is strong consumer involvement, with an overarching theme of women being at the centre of their care and being supported to make informed decisions about what is best for them and their babies."
Professor Newnham said the results provided strong evidence that structured, multi-faceted interventions using existing knowledge could yield measurable improvements in birth outcomes when implemented at scale.
"A key body of work for us moving forward will be to harness our new knowledge to prevent preterm preeclampsia and shape new discovery research which will have an emphasis on different ways of looking at infection in early pregnancy such as a pregnant woman's microbiome," he said.
Reflecting on the success of the preterm and early birth prevention national rollout, Professor Newnham acknowledged the previous and ongoing efforts of clinicians and consumers across the country.
"No other nation so far has achieved such results," he said. "This success has come from the hard work and dedication of thousands of healthcare workers across our many healthcare facilities, together with support from government at the Commonwealth, state and territory levels.
"But most importantly of all, is the enthusiastic involvement of pregnant women and their families across Australia. It is important to remember that this world-first program is supplied to the entire population – not just those we think to be at risk.
"Australia is one of the safest places in the world to have a baby. This program has made it even safer.
The Australian Preterm and Early Term Birth Program, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, aims to improve health outcomes for women and babies by safely reducing preterm and early term birth by 20 per cent within participating maternity services across Australia by June 2026.
