About the project
In this pilot project, we are partnering with 5 Victorian maternity services to strengthen safety culture in birth suites. The project focuses on practical ways to help maternity teams work together, communicate openly, and respond quickly to risks – making care safer for mothers and babies.
Objectives
The pilot aims to understand what it takes to establish a positive safety culture as the foundation for high-quality care in birth suites. By embedding safety in all aspects of care, we aim to reduce avoidable harm, strengthen outcomes for women and babies and improve staff satisfaction.
Background
A strong safety culture reflects the collective mindset and behaviours shaping care. Embedding safety in daily practice helps teams to:
- identify risks early
- speak up confidently
- work together to prevent harm.
This depends on open communication, shared accountability, and continuous improvement.
A positive safety culture supports calm, coordinated responses in a fast-paced, high-risk environment of a birth suite. This is reinforced by clear roles, structured communication, and consistent processes. Conversely, poor safety culture erodes trust, discourages reporting, delays escalation, and causes communication breakdowns - leading to higher rates of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes and staff burnout.
Solution design
We are partnerning with 5 Victorian birthing hospitals in a 12-month pilot.
Each health service will assess its current safety culture and identify strengths and areas for improvement. Teams will use the Model for Improvement to test new ideas and address barriers to change. The project will enable teams to respond rapidly to emerging insights, anchored in safety culture principles that drive care and resilience.
How to get involved
Expressions of interest have closed for this project. We are actively partnering with the successful health services.
We will share project updates on this page.
For more information, please contact the Maternity and Newborn Improvement Team at maternitynewborn@safercare.vic.gov.au.
Priority area
This project supports our broader effort to reduce avoidable harm and unnecessary variation in healthcare.