The WISH Project: Working to Improve Survival and Health for babies born very preterm: The WISH Project.

This project is currently in progress.

All maternity hospitals within Australia and New Zealand with a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) have been invited to join this project.

Once the antenatal magnesium guidelines were endorsed by NHMRC, published and disseminated, our attention has focussed on addressing the implications of implementing these guidelines, since very few obstetric units are currently using magnesium sulphate for fetal, neonatal and infant neuroprotection. We were fortunate to be granted funding from the Cerebral Palsy Alliance which will enable us to monitor and improve the uptake of antenatal magnesium for neuroprotection in Australian tertiary maternity hospitals, as part of the WISH (Working to Improve Survival and Health for babies born very preterm) Project.

Babies born early (less than 30 weeks of gestation) are at high risk of dying in the first weeks of life or later having cerebral palsy. New research evidence shows that giving mothers magnesium sulphate immediately prior to an early birth (at less than 30 weeks' gestation) significantly increases the chances of the baby surviving without cerebral palsy.

The overall aims of the WISH Project are to optimise the care of women at risk of imminent early preterm birth and so improve the chances of survival and long term good health for their babies.

The project will gather data from a cohort of mothers and their babies born very early, which will allow monitoring of the use of a new therapy for the prevention of cerebral palsy, as well as assessment of the changes in mortality and morbidity resulting from uptake of the new treatment. Furthermore, it will provide clinical indicators for care that can be used for quality improvement within participating hospitals, and information regarding strategies for implementation of the new treatment in hospitals across Australia and New Zealand.

The specific aims of this project are to nationally monitor and improve the uptake use of antenatal magnesium sulphate as a neuroprotective therapy immediately prior to imminent (birth planned or definitely expected within 24 hours), early preterm birth (less than 30 weeks' gestation) to reduce the risk of the baby dying or having cerebral palsy.

Funding: The Cerebral Palsy Institute Grant, 2011-2013

References

Antenatal Magnesium Sulphate for Neuroprotection Guideline Development Panel. Antenatal magnesium sulphate prior to preterm birth for neuroprotection of the fetus, infant and child: National clinical practice guidelines. Adelaide: The University of Adelaide, 2010.

Doyle LW, Crowther CA, Middleton P, Marret S, Rouse D. Magnesium sulphate for women at risk of preterm birth for neuroprotection of the fetus. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009 Jan 21;(1):CD004661

WISH Project Implementation Documents

• MgS04 CPG Implementation Powerpoint Presentation 
• Magnesium Sulphate Implementation Poster (A3) 
• Magnesium Sulphate Implementation Poster (A4)
• Case Note Reminder Inserts for MgS04 (A5) 
• Patient Information Sheet: MgSO4 (Tri-fold) 
• Summary of Clinical Recommendations and Good Practice Points (Tri-fold) 
• How to use Implementation
• Implementation Tool Order Form
• Antenatal Magnesium Sulphate prior to preterm birth for neuroprotection of the fetus, infant and child - National Clinical Practice Guidelines - updated November 2010 with NHMRC approval
• Consumer Information Brochure - Magnesium Sulphate prior to Preterm Birth
• February Newsletter
• April Newsletter

Key Contacts

Ms Philippa Middleton - Co-Director of Translational Health Research Division
Professor Caroline Crowther
Contact details