Improved management in threatened preterm labour with rapid fetal fibronectin testing

Recently, a new rapid system for fetal fibronectin (fFN) analysis (TLI(IQ)) has been developed with accuracy equal to the gold standard, ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) testing. The objective of this quality improvement project was to confirm that a reduction in intervention and a reduced length of stay did occur, as expected, after the testing of fFN was introduced at a tertiary referral hospital (National Women's Hospital) for women in threatened preterm labour. There was a reduction in investigation and treatment of women after fFN was introduced. The average length of stay reduced from 3.8 to 2.9 days after testing was introduced. For the women who were fFN negative, the average length of stay was 1.7 days.