Obstetrics safety plan significantly reduces adverse events

After a comprehensive patient safety program was implemented at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, adverse obstetric outcomes fell by about 40% during a 2-year period, according to a report in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (5/09). Outcomes studied were blood transfusion; maternal death, intensive care unit admission, or return to operating room or labor and delivery; uterine rupture; third-or fourth-degree laceration; Apgar score lower than 7 at 5 minutes; fetal traumatic birth injury; intrapartum or neonatal death; and unexpected admission to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Major elements of the initiative include the following: