16 Hospitals Nationwide Launch Campaign Aimed At Preventing Birth Injuries

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 19 May 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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Sixteen hospitals nationwide coordinated by the hospital performance improvement alliance Premier on Wednesday launched a 21-month campaign aimed at preventing birth injuries, Susan DeVore, chief operating officer of Premier, said, USA Today reports. The participating hospitals have agreed to follow a set of guidelines that have been shown to reduce the risk of five common problems associated with the majority of birth injuries.

The five problems are failing to recognize when the infant is in distress, failing to perform a caesarean section, failing to properly resuscitate an infant, inappropriately using medication to induce labor and inappropriately using a vacuum or forceps. DeVore said the recommended guidelines have the best results when delivery teams consistently follow each step. For example when deciding whether to medically induce labor, delivery teams should consider whether the infant is full-term and monitor the infant's heart rate and position, as well as the condition of the uterus, Kathy Connolly, a nurse and project team leader at Premier, said.

According to Connolly, delivery teams need to take time to develop clear plans. Although it will be costly to develop clear strategies, DeVore said the investment will be cost-effective by helping to reduce expenses and to avoid lawsuits. "We want everyone to know what it is they are to do, so the patient doesn't perceive it as anything other than routine," Claudette Hamm -- regional director of women's health at Aurora Health Care in one of the participating hospitals -- said (Szabo, USA Today, 5/15).

In addition to Wisconsin, hospitals in Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state and West Virginia also will be participating in the program (Premier release, 5/14). About 115,000 infants are expected to be delivered at the participating hospitals during the campaign, Connolly said, adding, "We want to eliminate all preventable injuries to those" infants (USA Today, 5/15).

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