WORCESTER, Mass. – Saint Vincent Hospital today announced the launch of TeamBirth, a new initiative to enhance the birthing experience and improve outcomes for people giving birth and their babies.

TeamBirth is a communication and teamwork process that closes gaps in communication that challenge the safety and dignity of people giving birth. It was developed by Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA.

“TeamBirth ensures people giving birth and the clinicians who are caring for them have shared input and understanding into decisions during labor and delivery,” said Dr. Michele Sinopoli, Chief Medical Officer Saint Vincent Hospital. “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.”

Research indicates that failures in communication between providers and between providers and patients accounts for up to 90 percent of preventable injuries during childbirth. TeamBirth was developed to address these gaps in communication to ensure that people giving birth and the clinicians who are caring for them have shared input and understanding into decisions during labor and delivery.

A central component of the TeamBirth model is a shared whiteboard located in all labor and delivery rooms to outline care plans and progress for the patient and baby that serves as an ongoing shared reference for the team. The full care team, of which the person giving birth and their support person are an integral part, meet frequently throughout labor and delivery in huddles to make sure all parties are aware of the patient’s preferences, symptoms, and experiences and to set clear expectations.

“All people who give birth deserve to have a safe, dignified experience. TeamBirth is an evidence-based approach to turn this vision into a reality,” said Amber Weiseth, DNP, MSN, RNC-OB, Director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs. “We are excited to collaborate with Saint Vincent Hospital to ensure that the patient voice is central to all decisions in labor and delivery.”

“We look forward to working with Ariadne Labs to implement TeamBirth and to continue our efforts to ensure birthing people are centered and respected before, during and after labor and delivery,” said Dr. Sinopoli, CMO.

To learn more about Saint Vincent Hospital’s Obstetrics services, click here.