The Action Collaborative runs for 5 months and includes 7 virtual sessions (recorded for later access), plus planning and running at least one Partial Transfer Drill and one Full Transfer Drill. Most teams spend about 2–3 hours per month on program activities, not including the drill itself. A Full Transfer Drill, including an interdisciplinary debrief, generally lasts 4 hours. A Partial Transfer Drill can be completed in 30-90 minutes.

• Partial Transfer Drills simulate an emergency and “talk through” the transfer steps, often within a single site.
• Full Transfer Drills run the emergency in real time, from the community birth site through EMS transport to the hospital. Both are valuable for identifying strengths and gaps.

Teams get access to Step Up Together Drill Kits, expert coaching, and a peer learning community. Drill Kits include detailed scenarios, setup guides, observation tools, and debriefing resources. Faculty are available for individual coaching, and some teams may receive on-site support.

No. Thanks to grant funding from the Skyline Foundation and our partnership with NACPM, there is no fee for participating facilities.

For the first time, Step Up Together is offering two simultaneous cohorts: one focused on home birth drills and one focused on birth center drills. The main difference is where your drill will originate—at a home birth or a birth center. Even if your practice serves families in both settings, you’ll only need to choose one pathway for your team’s drill. Both cohorts will meet at the same time, and you’ll be able to decide which track to follow after the first session once you’ve had a chance to learn more. Recordings for both cohorts will be available to all participants.

Contact hours will be provided for participants in the Action Collaborative for the 7 virtual sessions. Drill participants will also have an opportunity to earn CNE or CME contact hours. Details will be provided to participants prior to the start of the Action Collaborative.

You can expect to complete a Full Transfer Drill and an interdisciplinary debrief yielding quality improvement insights and next steps, even if you have never done this kind of drill before. In previous Action Collaboratives, approximately 70% of teams have completed a Full Transfer Drill by the end of the program, and most remaining teams have successfully completed a drill on their own after the program ends.

Past Action Collaborative participants reported:

• Stronger interprofessional relationships
• Increased confidence in emergency transfers
• Improved teamwork and communication
• Concrete quality improvements in protocols, documentation, and EMS engagement

Click the Apply Now button and complete a short application with information about your team, your current transfer processes, and your goals for participating.

Each team must include at least one participant from a community birth setting (home birth or birth center) and one participant from a hospital. This ensures the interdisciplinary collaboration that is core to the Action Collaborative.

Applications must include a letter of intent from the partner organization confirming their commitment to participate. For example:

• If a birth center or home birth practice is applying, a hospital letter of intent is required.
• If a hospital is applying, a letter of intent from a birth center or home birth practice is required.

Teams also have the option to include a letter of intent from EMS, which is strongly encouraged but not mandatory.

👉 To make this easier, we’ve created downloadable templates you can use and customize for your application.

• Hospital letter of intent (for birth center or home birth applications)
• Birth center or home birth practice letter of intent (for hospital applications)
• EMS letter of intent (for either type of application - recommended)