Safer Care Victoria
The Every Week Counts – National Preterm Birth Prevention Collaborative has worked with more than 50 maternity hospitals across Australia to support more pregnancies to continue beyond 39 weeks. The first round of the program concluded in March 2024, and 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. In this presentation Professor Newnham will outline the history of the national program, why it is so important, progress so far and the next steps in this exciting our journey.
John Newnham is a Professor of Obstetrics at The University of Western Australia (UWA) and is a sub-specialist in Maternal Fetal Medicine. His research interests focus on prevention of preterm birth and the early life origins of health and disease. He has initiated many clinical and laboratory research studies including The Raine Study, the Western Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Initiative and the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance and National Program. He was awarded an Order of Australia in the general division in 2014 and was the 2020 Senior Australian of the Year.