Smooth Transitions: Enhancing Interprofessional Collaboration when Planned Community Births Transfer to Hospital Care

Area of Science:

• Maternal and Child Health
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Interprofessional Collaboration

Background:

• Planned community births in Washington involve licensed midwives (LMs) and certified nurse-midwives (CNMs).
• In 2018, 3.6% of births occurred at home or birthing centers, with transfer rates of 16.2% for clients and 1.8% for newborns.
• Effective hospital transfers are crucial for safety and satisfaction, requiring multisystem collaboration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce Smooth Transitions, a quality improvement initiative aimed at enhancing interprofessional collaboration for planned community birth transfers.
• To improve the quality and experience of hospital transfers from community settings to hospitals.
• To foster better integration of community midwifery within the broader healthcare system.

Main Methods:

• Information sharing to address misconceptions about community births and midwives.
• Co-creation of standardized transfer guidelines.
• Regular interprofessional meetings for transfer review and relationship building.
• Ongoing qualitative feedback collection from all stakeholders.

Main Results:

• Positive impacts reported on provider, staff, and patient experiences with hospital transfers.
• Enhanced understanding and context regarding community births and midwife roles.
• Improved interprofessional relationships and communication.

Conclusions:

• The Smooth Transitions initiative has positively influenced the experience of hospital transfers from planned community births.
• Strengthening quantitative data and expanding EMS relationships are future goals.
• Replication of this QI program nationally could enhance community midwifery integration and the referral process.