Interprofessional Collaboration

The following are resources for people that are interested in learning more about interprofessional collaboration in maternity care.

Washington State Physician-Midwife Workgroup

A group of physicians and midwives in Washington State formed The Physician-Midwife Workgroup, a multidisciplinary subcommittee of the Washington State Perinatal Collaborative (WSPC). This workgroup has developed a quality improvement project initiative to enhance the safety of planned out-of-hospital birth transports, including a multi-disciplinary perinatal transport committee to review and improve transports. The model has improved communications between partners and is adaptable to individual hospitals. Learn more about “Smooth Transitions: Enhancing the Safety of Planned Out-of-Hospital Birth Transports – A Quality Improvement Initiative of the Washington State Perinatal Collaborative” through the Project Manual or by visiting the WSPC website.

The Midwives Association of Washington State has provided testimonials for successful models of collaborative care: read more.

Childbirth Connection: Transforming Maternity Care

In 2008, Childbirth Connection convened a Vision Team of innovators in maternity care delivery and health systems design to define the fundamental values, principles, and goals for a high-quality, high-value maternity care system. The resulting consensus document, 2020 Vision for a High-Quality, High-Value Maternity Care System serves as a focal point to inspire improvement strategies, and formed the basis for the Blueprint for Action: Steps Toward a High-Quality, High-Value Maternity Care System. The Care Coordination focus area contains information on collaboration: Coordination of maternity care across time, settings, and disciplines.

Additional reading can be found on the Reference List for this topic.

Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America: Special issue on Collaborative Practice in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Guest editors Richard Waldman MD FACOG and Holly Powell Kennedy PhD CNM FANM FAAN. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America, Issue: September 2012 Vol. 39, No. 3.

Over a period of two years Richard Waldman and Holly Kennedy worked together to collect examples of collaborative OB/GYN and CNM/CM practices. From 60 articles collected, they chose 11 to showcase collaborative models of care that work in this special issue.

• The Long and Winding Road to Effective Collaboration. Richard Waldman, Holly Powell Kennedy. pp xix-xxii
• The Birth of a Collaborative Model: Obstetricians, Midwives, and Family Physicians. Christine Chang Pecci, Julie Mottl-Santiago, Larry Culpepper, Linda Heffner, et al. pp 323-334
• Midwifery and Obstetrics: Twenty Years of Collaborative Academic Practice. Diane J. Angelini, Barbara O’Brien, Janet Singer, Donald R. Coustan. pp 335-346
• Description of a Successful Collaborative Birth Center Practice Among Midwives and an Obstetrician. Jennifer R. Stevens, Tammy L. Witmer, Robin L. Grant, Dominic J. Cammarano. pp 347-357
• Midwives and Obstetrician-Gynecologists Collaborating for Native American Women’s Health. Joseph A. (Tony) Ogburn, Eve Espey, Marilyn Pierce-Bulger, Alan Waxman, et al. pp 359-366
• A Successful Model of Collaborative Practice in a University-Based Maternity Care Setting. May Hsieh Blanchard, Jan M. Kriebs. pp 367-372
• Working Toward a Common Goal: A Collaborative Obstetrics and Gynecology Practice. Nicole Marshall, Sarah Egan, Christina Flores, Abbe Kirsch, et al. pp 373-382
• Collaborative Maternity Care: Three Decades of Success at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Miriam N. Cordell, Tina C. Foster, Emily R. Baker, Barbara Fildes. pp 383-398
• Collaborative Practice Model: Madigan Army Medical Center. Peter E. Nielsen, Michelle Munroe, Lisa Foglia, Roxanne I. Piecek, et al. pp 399-410
• Interprofessional Collaborative Practice in Obstetrics and Midwifery. Tekoa L. King, Russell K. Laros, Julian T. Parer. pp 411-422
• Essential Components of Successful Collaborative Maternity Care Models: The ACOG-ACNM Project. Melissa D. Avery, Owen Montgomery, Emily Brandl-Salutz. pp 423-434
• Collaboration in Maternity Care: Possibilities and Challenges. Richard Waldman, Holly Powell Kennedy, Susan Kendig. pp 435-444

Obstetrics & Gynecology Journal feature: Collaborative Practice Between Obstetricians and Midwives

Obstetrics & Gynecology, Issue: Volume 118(3), September 2011, p 503–504. Waldman, Richard N. MD; Kennedy, Holly Powell CNM, PhD

• Obstetrician and Nurse-Midwife Collaboration: Successful Public Health and Private Practice Partnership. Shaw-Battista, Jenna CNM, PhD; Fineberg, Annette MD; Boehler, Barbara CNM; Skubic, Blanche CNM; Woolley, Deborah CNM, PhD; Tilton, Zoe MD. Full text version available free online.
• A Northwest Collaborative Practice Model. Darlington, Ann CNM; McBroom, Kelly CNM; Warwick, Susan MD
• Great Minds Don’t Think Alike: Collaborative Maternity Care at San Francisco General Hospital. Hutchison, Margaret S. CNM, MSN; Ennis, Linda CNM, MSN; Shaw-Battista, Jenna CNM, MS, PhD; Delgado, Ana CNM, MS; Myers, Kara CNM, MS; Cragin, Leslie CNM, MSN, PhD; Jackson, Rebecca A. MD
• Making It Work: Successful Collaborative Practice. DeJoy, Susan CNM, PhD; Burkman, Ronald T. MD; Graves, Barbara W. CNM, MPH; Grow, Daniel MD; Sankey, Heather Z. MD; Delk, Carolyn MD; Feinland, Julie CNM, MSN; Kaplan, Janet CNM, MSN; Hallisey, Anastasia CNM, MSN

Multidisciplinary Collaborative Primary Maternity Care Project

The Multidisciplinary Collaborative Primary Maternity Care Project (MCP²), completed in June 2006, was designed to help address the human resource shortage crisis that exists in the provision of intrapartum care to pregnant women. The overarching goal of MCP² was to reduce key barriers and facilitate the implementation of national multidisciplinary collaborative primary maternity care strategies as a means of increasing the availability and quality of maternity services for all Canadian women.

The initiative developed various guidelines and tools to facilitate the implementation of models of multidisciplinary collaborative care that could relieve health human resources shortages. These tools affect policy and facilitate changes in practice patterns. The findings of MCP2 helped provide a framework for the development of SOGC’s A National Birthing Strategy for Canada.

Lead and Partner Organizations: Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada; with the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses; the Canadian Association of Midwives; the Canadian Nurses Association; the College of Family Physicians of Canada; the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada.

Health Canada – Initiative Fact Sheet about the Multidisciplinary Collaborative Primary Maternity Care Project

Final Report – Primary Maternity Care Model

The Multidisciplinary Collaborative Primary Maternity Care Project. Guidelines for development of a multidisciplinary collaborative primary maternity care model. Ottawa, Canada; 2006. Available at: http://www.mcp2.ca/english/documents/D-FinalGuidelinestoModelDev1May06.pdf

Final Report

Knowledge Transfer Modules:

The MCP2 project has identified 7 knowledge transfer modules that support the development of a multidisciplinary collaborative primary maternity care model. The 7 modules are combined in the linked document.

• Module 1 – Conducting an Environmental Scan
• Module 2 – Getting Started
• Module 3 – Building Teams
• Module 4 – Communicating Effectively
• Module 5 – Improving the Collaborative Model
• Module 6 – Evaluating the Collaborative Model
• Module 7 – Evaluating the Cost Implications of the MCPMC Model

National Guidance on Collaborative Maternity Care

The National Guidance on Collaborative Maternity Care was developed by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council to provide a resource to support collaborative maternity care in Australia. Topics include:

• Maternity care collaboration: definition and principles
• Key elements of collaboration: translating evidence into clinical practice
• Establishing collaboration
• Clinical resources for collaboration
• Monitoring and evaluation

Case studies of existing collaborative models can be found in the document’s appendix.