Perinatal Kaizen 1 Report Out

The most recent Kaizen was aimed at eliminating the gap that exists for mothers and babies who are delivered by cesarean section. The goal was to ensure at least 15 minutes of skin-to-skin time for mothers and babies in the first 60 minutes of life. The average time for mothers who delivered vaginally was less than 15 minutes to skin-to-skin, as opposed to mothers who delivered via cesarean who on average waited more than 3 hours for 15 minutes or more of skin-to-skin with their child. Increased skin to skin has been shown to reduce hemorrhaging and anxiety, increase the likelihood of breastfeeding, increase the maternal-child bond (we learned that fathers feel more bonded as well), and reduce pain.
In other words, the team focused on much more than health care, they focused on HEALTH!
I found it interesting and refreshing that teams spent an entire week trying to get "us" (health care delivery) out of the maternal-child experience and instead support health, which we we have learned is best accomplished not by us, but by us supporting the mother and child.

I will be posting a video on the most recent work and what patients are saying very soon.