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Data Collection Overview

Maternity Models of Care National Best Practice Data Set (MOC NBPDS)

Data Collection Sources

Data are collected using the Maternity Care Classification System(MaCCS) an electronic data collection form on an annual basis and whenever a new model of maternity care is implemented.

State and territory health authorities provide the data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for national collation, on an agreed schedule 

Institutional environments

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is a major national agency set up by the Australian Government under the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987 to provide reliable, regular and relevant information and statistics on Australia’s health and welfare. It is an independent corporate Commonwealth entity established in 1987, governed by a management board, and accountable to the Australian Parliament through the Health portfolio.
The AIHW aims to improve the health and wellbeing of Australians through better health and welfare information and statistics. It collects and reports information on a wide range of topics and issues, ranging from health and welfare expenditure, hospitals, disease and injury, and mental health, to ageing, homelessness, disability and child protection.
The AIHW also plays a role in developing and maintaining national metadata standards. This work contributes to improving the quality and consistency of national health and welfare statistics. The AIHW works closely with governments and non-government organisations to achieve greater adherence to these standards in administrative data collections to promote national consistency and comparability of data and reporting. 
One of the main functions of the AIHW is to work with the states and territories to improve the quality of administrative data and, where possible, to compile national datasets based on data from each jurisdiction, to analyse these datasets and disseminate information and statistics.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987, in conjunction with compliance to the Privacy Act 1988, (Commonwealth) ensures that the data collections managed by the AIHW are kept securely and under the strictest conditions with respect to privacy and confidentiality.
For further information see the AIHW website www.aihw.gov.au.
Data specifications for the MOC NBPDS  are documented in the AIHW’s online metadata repository, METeOR.

Relevance and Scope

The maternity model of care national best practice data set (MOC NBPDS) is not mandated for collection. This data set enables maternity care providers to classify models of care using the MaCCS.

The scope of the data set is all models of maternity care available to pregnant and birthing women.
The MaCCS, utilising the NBPDS provides a standardised nomenclature and descriptive data for maternity models of care. National collation of these data enables meaningful analysis and comparisons of maternal and perinatal outcomes between differing models of care. The data elements in the NBPDS describe the different characteristics of models of maternity care based on three domains: 
  • the women a model is designed for;
  • the carers working in the model; and
  • aspects of how care is provided.
The development of the MaCCS and the MOC NBPDS was undertaken as part of the National Maternity Data Development Project under the guidance of an expert advisory group and included wide-reaching consultation with relevant stakeholder groups around the country. 

Timeliness

​MOC NBPDS are collated annually for financial years. The latest report is the Maternity Care Classification System: Maternity Model of Care Data Set Specification national pilot report 2014 published in 2016.

Accuracy

Inaccurate responses may occur in all data provided to the AIHW. Before publication data are provided to jurisdictions for review.

The MOC NBPDS is currently not mandated for collection and is a voluntary data collection that is  not linked to unit records therefore the MoC NBPDS may not be representative of all maternity models of care available to women across Australia.

Accessibility

The MaCCS was developed to provide reliable data on the models of care provided to women during their pregnancies and birth by allowing for the categorisation of models of care based on a defined standard.

Interpretability

​Metadata information for the MOC NBPDS are published in the AIHW's online metadata repository - METeOR https://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/559937

Supporting information on the data development process are available in:

  • Enhancing maternity data collection and reporting in Australia: National maternity data development project stage 2.
  • Nomenclature for models of maternity care: a literature review

Information on models of care and participation of maternity services in the MOC NBPDS is available on the MaCCS website. 
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