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Research

Monash Health has a long history of producing cutting edge, world-class research.

Monash Women’s Maternity Services provide care for nearly 10,000 mothers and babies each year. We have well-established close collaboration with multiple research institutions and a proud history of bringing research to the beside due to co-location and strong academic links, with Monash Women’s clinicians encouraged to attain parallel research commitment. This means there are many opportunities to use research findings to make sure we give the best care possible and update care with new developments regularly.

We also generate some of our best research into issues that matter the most to mothers and their babies where the bulk of complications occur, and the women and babies we care for benefit from these developments in extreme prematurity, pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction (small babies) and preterm rupture of membranes (breaking of the waters).

There are several research centres co-located and closely affiliated with Monash Women’s Maternity Services, including the Ritchie Centre, the Hudson Institute, Monash University, Monash Centre for Health Research & Implementation (MCHRI) and other academic institutions.

We’re proud to lead the way in research that delivers breakthroughs in women’s health, maternity and obstetric services across our hospital sites and the community.

Watch the below video and hear from our talented team working for the benefit of women, their families, and the community.

Our collaborations

Monash Women’s and Jessie McPherson Private Hospital, work in partnership with The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute and Monash University. Herein, there is an established perinatal research program where clinicians and scientists work together in the study of healthy and complicated pregnancies, fetal growth and development, as well as the ongoing health of the newborn. Their aim is to further the understanding of pregnancy, the different conditions that can affect pregnant women and babies and to ultimately develop better treatments and diagnostic tools.

Currently, we are undertaking a wide range of research projects across all three Monash Health maternity sites: Monash Medical Centre, Dandenong Hospital and Casey Hospital. Some examples of these include: developing novel treatments for pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction, pioneering therapies for perinatal cerebral protection and reducing brain injury as a consequence of premature birth, the use of placental stem cells, the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage at the time of vaginal and caesarean section birth, and the effect of maternal diabetes on fetal kidney development. Many other projects are active within the unit.

All of our research projects are approved by Monash Health, Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), before we can recruit any mother or baby and all meet rigorous safety criteria and have pre-defined audits of safety and outcomes. Participation is a trial is always voluntary and you and your baby may be offered a suitable trial and access to monitoring and medications as part of your participation. You may choose to withdraw from a trial at any time.

If you would like to find out more about our perinatal research at Monash Women’s, or you would like to ask if you may be eligible take part in one of our many research projects, as either a healthy volunteer or a participant with a specific condition, please contact your midwife, obstetric doctor or speak with your family doctor.

Generation Victoria (GenV)

Monash Health is proud to support GenV, a new research project led from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute that aims to help improve long-term health and wellbeing for children and parents.

GenV is a sophisticated research project with a simple goal: a better approach to child and adult health and wellbeing in Victoria. GenV will launch at Monash Health from mid-2021 and over two years, every family having a baby at a Monash Health hospital – and at birthing hospitals across the state – will be offered the chance to participate, no matter their background or location.

GenV is one of the world’s largest birth and parent cohort studies and aims to reduce the burden of problems including allergies, obesity and mental illness.

For more information: