The expert team for the Support for Birth initiative has been working by conference call and email to develop a data collection instrument and to create standardized definitions of the data items to be collected during this project. The expert team includes maternal-fetal medicine specialists, OB generalists, midwives, nurse managers of Labor & Delivery, a nurse educator, and a patient representative. Letters will be sent out to the CEOs of all North Carolina hospitals with maternity centers and copied to CNOs and chiefs of OB, inviting them to participate in this initiative. Each hospital will need to form a team consisting of, at a minimum, a nurse champion, a physician champion, and a senior hospital administrator. Hospitals are encouraged to include other relevant team members such as staff nurses, nurse educators, patient representatives and performance improvement personnel.
