You Can’t Get There From Here: What Community Birth QI Can Teach Us
We’re excited to share two new resources for perinatal professionals from Amy and our colleagues at the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health.
- First, ACOG has just released their long-awaited AIM Community Birth Transfer Resource Kit. It’s a collection of best practices to aid in supporting safe and timely transfers from community birth settings to hospitals if the need for a transfer of care arises. Amy contributed to this project, and her work is highlighted on page 1(!) in the 3 Delays Framework—a concept she’s championed for years! Download the toolkit directly from AIM’s website here.
- As a result of this work, Amy was invited by ACOG to appear on their AIM for Safer Birth podcast! In the episode, she shares the story of Step Up Together and discusses the importance of quality improvement (QI) for community birth, along with the critical need for collaboration across all levels of care, especially in rural communities. You can listen to the podcast here.
Whether you’re a hospital-based provider, community birth midwife, EMS professional, educator, PQC leader, or student, there are valuable lessons to take away.
Here are key themes from Amy’s conversation and ways Step Up Together programs can advance safety and collaboration in your perinatal community.
The Importance of Perinatal Transfer Drills
In her conversation, Amy emphasized the life-saving role that perinatal transfer drills play in preparing care teams for emergencies. These drills, particularly in community-based settings, are critical for ensuring that when something goes wrong, teams know exactly what to do.
At Step Up Together, we’ve built our program around these drills, offering ready-to-deploy toolkits that allow teams to practice real-life scenarios. These drills not only help providers refine their skills, but they also foster the trust and collaboration necessary to save lives.
Building Collaboration Across Care Levels
One of the most powerful messages Amy shared was the importance of building collaborative relationships between hospitals and community care providers. From midwives to EMS teams, when everyone is on the same page, the process works.
Step Up Together is built around these drills, offering ready-to-deploy Drill Kits that allow teams to practice real-life scenarios. These drills not only help providers refine essential skills, but they also foster the trust and collaboration necessary to save lives.
Free Tools to Make it Simple
As Amy mentioned in the podcast, Step Up Together has big plans ahead. We’re expanding our Free Resource Library to include even more Drill Kits by the end of the year, and we’re continuing to build a supportive community of care providers who are committed to stepping up safety for maternal and newborn health.
If you haven’t yet joined our Focused Action Cycle, now’s the perfect time. FAC is a hands-on program designed to help your team run perinatal emergency drills with ready-made tools and ongoing support. Whether you’re in a rural hospital, a birth center, or part of an EMS team, the FAC will help you take your preparedness to the next level.
️ Do This First
- Listen to Amy’s episode of the AIM For Safer Birth Podcast
- Download and share the AIM Toolkit to access resources for improving perinatal safety in your setting.
- Register for the October Focused Action Cycle to start implementing drills with the support of a like-minded community of care providers.
As always, thank you for your commitment to excellence and equity. We can have safe and respectful care everywhere, if we work together.