Hillcrest Medical Center Launches Team Birth

TeamBirth project, a collaborative approach to childbirth, has launched at Hillcrest Medical Center.
Funded by George Kaiser Family Foundation as part of the Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative, TeamBirth is the centerpiece of the Delivery Decisions Initiative of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs partners with hospitals and communities to enhance trust in childbirth through systems of communication and teamwork.
“The goal of TeamBirth is to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes through teamwork and communication utilizing shared decision making,” said Xavier Villarreal, CEO of Hillcrest Medical Center.
HMC began weekly meetings with Ariadne Labs in September 2020 to prepare for the launch of the project, which also aims to decrease cesarean section procedures and increase patient engagement.
TeamBirth launched nationally in 2018 as a pilot after four years of research and a one-year design effort involving experts across several disciplines.
The project centers around the patient and her team, which can include her support person, nurses, midwives, obstetricians, anesthesiologists, neonatologists, doulas and other specialists.
“We are deeply honored to support Hillcrest Medical Center’s commitment to ensure every mother understands their care and has the role they want in their birth,” said Neel Shah, director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs. “We believe this effort will serve as a powerful model for hospitals across the country.”
During childbirth, the team has regular huddles that involve the full care team. A whiteboard, called a shared planning board, is utilized to ensure simplicity and communication success.
“TeamBirth ensures everyone in the room, including and especially the person giving birth, feels permission and opportunity to speak and be heard,” Villarreal said. “We are giving the laboring mom the information she needs to make a shared decision with her clinical team.”
The same communication model will extend to the care provided after the birth and continue until the mother leaves the hospital.
For more information about TeamBirth, visit www.ariadnelabs.org.
About Hillcrest Medical Center
Hillcrest Medical Center, a 626-bed hospital, celebrated its 100th year of serving the Tulsa community in 2018. Hillcrest offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services including maternity, cardiology, emergency, burn care, orthopedics and surgery. To learn more, visit hillcrestmedicalcenter.com.