The simple procedure preventing premature births

Western Australian researchers are pioneering a new way to prevent premature births, uncovering a key indicator that a woman may go in to early labour.

Doctors from King Edward Memorial Hospital have discovered if a woman’s cervix is too short during pregnancy, she is more likely to have a preterm birth.

And they say a simple procedure can help prevent that from happening.

“If a woman has a short cervix in mid-pregnancy, a vaginal progesterone, so a tablet made of the natural hormone progesterone in the vagina, taken each evening will nearly halve the chance of her delivering early,” Chair and Founder of the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance Professor John Newnham said.

The discovery has changed protocols in WA, and it is now procedure to measure the cervix midway through the pregnancy.

The program launched in 2014 led to a reduction in premature births in the state by eight percent that same year.

“Delaying the birth of a newborn baby by approximately seven weeks, from 24 weeks to 31 weeks gestation, saves the health system over $150,000,” WA Health Minister Roger Cook said.

“But the human cost is even greater with complications from preterm birth often resulting in life-long health problems.”

The program is considered so successful the Federal Government will roll it out nationwide.

The Commonwealth will spend $1.2 million implementing the program in New South Wales and Victoria first.