Many thanks to Chef Rick Hucking of The Carnelian Room in San Francisco for supporting The March of Dimes Big 5 Early Term Quality Improvement (QI) Action Summit on August 12.
The Summit—a collaboration between March of Dimes California Chapter and the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative—was attended by 30 high level leaders from the health care community who have been working in the field of QI and who have an interest in eliminating elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks.
The Summit was convened to focus on fleshing out a strategy to eliminate elective deliveries in California prior to 39 weeks of pregnancy. The final weeks of pregnancy are crucial to the development of babies brains, lungs and other vital systems. Elective delivery before 39 weeks means that a baby is not getting the healthiest start possible.
The goal of the Summit was to develop a final blueprint for a statewide change process in California to eliminate elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks through the immediate roll out of three change models:
· Public strategy to inform women, the general public and the healthcare community about the importance of getting to 39 weeks.
· All hospital toolkit to support hospitals in implementing policies and procedures to eliminate elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks in every California hospital.
· QI collaborative to establish an intensive 20-30 hospital QI collaborative to change hospital practice to eliminate elective early term deliveries. |
