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Monday, June 23, 2008
Petree C (LA Convention Center)
Regional Collaboration to Impact Late Pre-Term Delivery Rates
Many pregnant women have the perception that delivering an infant before 37 weeks gestation will have little to no effect on the infant’s health and safety, especially in regard to weight. In addition, the American culture of pregnancy has shifted from allowing labor to occur naturally to one of scheduling the delivery. With advances in technology and research, women now tend to believe that early delivery of their infant will not increase the baby’s health and safety risks. A group of clinical managers, educators, and staff nurses representing hospitals in the eastTexas region came together to address these issues. The East Texas Perinatal Council was formed with the purpose to provide support and resource information to one another in the forum of quarterly meetings and an email distribution list serve. This group, whose current goal is to impact late pre-term delivery rates in each facility, has been meeting regularly since 2005. Other efforts include graduate orientation, implementing the STABLE Program at each facility, policy revisions, and implementation of new American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines.
The council has drafted plans for a brochure titled, “Nine Months Is Best.” This patient education tool will focus on benefits of maintaining a pregnancy through the entire nine months and note potential complications with late pre-term infants. We hope by providing this information, pregnant women will become more knowledgeable and aware and thus contribute to their own improved health and safety and that of their infant. Our plan is to distribute these among obstetrician offices, Labor & Delivery units, and prenatal classes. Data will be collected pre and post-implementation of the brochure and analyzed to see if there is a difference in pre-term delivery rates.
By working collaboratively, the council hopes projects such as these will foster greater communication and collegiality among all perinatal healthcare providers and optimize the outcomes of pregnancy for this region.
Many pregnant women have the perception that delivering an infant before 37 weeks gestation will have little to no effect on the infant’s health and safety, especially in regard to weight. In addition, the American culture of pregnancy has shifted from allowing labor to occur naturally to one of scheduling the delivery. With advances in technology and research, women now tend to believe that early delivery of their infant will not increase the baby’s health and safety risks. A group of clinical managers, educators, and staff nurses representing hospitals in the east
The council has drafted plans for a brochure titled, “Nine Months Is Best.” This patient education tool will focus on benefits of maintaining a pregnancy through the entire nine months and note potential complications with late pre-term infants. We hope by providing this information, pregnant women will become more knowledgeable and aware and thus contribute to their own improved health and safety and that of their infant. Our plan is to distribute these among obstetrician offices, Labor & Delivery units, and prenatal classes. Data will be collected pre and post-implementation of the brochure and analyzed to see if there is a difference in pre-term delivery rates.
By working collaboratively, the council hopes projects such as these will foster greater communication and collegiality among all perinatal healthcare providers and optimize the outcomes of pregnancy for this region.
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