World Patient Safety Day

16 Sep 2021

The 2021 theme is ‘safe maternal and newborn care’, encouraging stakeholders to act for safe and respectful childbirth.

• 810 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy / childbirth
• 6700 newborns die every day, amounting to 47% of all under-5 deaths
• 2 million babies are stillborn every year, with over 40% occurring during labour *

The majority of stillbirths and maternal and newborn deaths are avoidable through the provision of safe and quality care by skilled health professionals working in supportive environments, such as those we enjoy at Australian hospitals.

How do we keep mothers and babies safe at Murdoch?

Through pregnancy:

• scheduled maternal and foetal checks during pregnancy
• comprehensive parent education program and provision of key information
• co-located, 24-hour private ED
• 24-hour communications between mothers and clinical teams via phone or the Eve app

During labour:

• obstetrician and patient-led decision making (click to read about patient choice)
• dedicated birth suite, onsite theatres and skilled midwives
• obstetrician-led delivery
• modern facilities and the latest technologies
• support for low intervention birthing options and VBAC

Postnatal and neonatal care:

• special care nursery located on the ward and paediatrician-led care
• provision and support for safe sleeping guides
• welcoming environment for boarding partners
• support for breastfeeding via lactation consultants
• mental wellbeing services via the Raphael Services

Objectives of World Patient Safety Day 2021

1. Raise global awareness on the issues of maternal and newborn safety, particularly during childbirth.
2. Engage multiple stakeholders and adopt effective and innovative strategies to improve maternal and newborn safety.
3. Call for urgent and sustainable actions by all stakeholders to scale up efforts, reach the unreached and ensure safe maternal and newborn care, particularly during childbirth.
4. Advocate the adoption of best practices at the point of care to prevent avoidable risks and harm to all women and newborns during childbirth.

Celebrating World Patient Safety Day 2021

The mark of the global campaign is to light up landmarks, and public places in the colour orange and Murdoch will be lighting our iconic front statue in orange in recognition of the day. Murdoch midwives will also be delivering orange cupcakes to all our new parents on the St Marys maternity ward.

World Patient Safety Day was established in 2019 to enhance global understanding of patient safety, increase public engagement in the safety of health care and promote global actions to enhance patient safety and reduce patient harm.

For more information, please click here

*Data obtained from the World Health Organisation