Saint Vincent launches program to improve outcomes in childbirth

Photo | Grant Welker Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester

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By Isabel Tehan

Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester has added a new program to close the gaps in communication that can lead to negative outcomes for those giving birth and their babies.

Called TeamBirth, the program was created by Ariadne Labs, a partnership between Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

TeamBirth is an evidence-based approach to addressing failures in communications between healthcare providers during labor and delivery, according to a Monday press release from Saint Vincent. Up to 90% of preventable injuries happening during childbirth are caused by errors in the provider-to-provider or provider-to-patient communication process, according to research cited by TeamBirth.

“TeamBirth ensures people giving birth and the clinicians who are caring for them have shared input and understanding into decisions during labor and delivery. This team-based approach, where all members of the patient’s team, including the mom and her support persons, nurses, midwives and physicians, are all viewed as having equally valuable input for decision-making. This method of delivering care has been shown to improve outcomes and patient satisfaction,” Dr. Michele Sinopoli, chief medical officer at Saint Vincent, said in the press release.

Part of the TeamBirth model involves huddles between providers throughout labor and delivery to ensure the stream of communication is intact. A shared whiteboard outlining care plans for the patient and baby is maintained throughout the hospital stay to serve as an ongoing point of reference.

More than 2,000 babies were born at Saint Vincent last year, according to the hospital’s obstetrics webpage. The hospital has 10 labor and delivery rooms.