Getting on the Same Page: Why Australia Needs a National Maternity Early Warning System (MEWS) Chart

Observation charts are used to record and prompt responses for acutely deteriorating patients. Compared to non-pregnant observation charts, maternity charts reflect physiological changes of pregnancy and the immediate postpartum period. Maternity observation charts differ across Australian states and territories, resulting in a lack of comparable data, standardised care and optimisation of streamlining education and training. To improve maternity care across the country, we propose that the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, in the upcoming third edition of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, review Standard 8 (recognising and responding to the acutely deteriorating patients) to generate a national Maternity Early Warning System (MEWS) Chart.