Implementing a perinatal safety reporting program
Why now
Perinatal safety is one of the highest-priority areas in healthcare quality improvement, with 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico now participating in the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) program, and more than 2,069 birthing facilities implementing AIM safety bundles. Maternal mortality review committees are operating in most states, and maternal and newborn safety metrics are under active federal and state scrutiny.
CMS reporting requirements for perinatal outcomes have expanded, and accreditation standards increasingly reflect the evidence base for bundle-based perinatal safety programs. Organizations that have not yet implemented structured bundle compliance tracking and maternal event reporting are operating without the infrastructure that current standards expect.
The opportunity is substantial. Maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity remain stubbornly high in the United States relative to peer nations, and the evidence base for specific bundle interventions — particularly obstetric hemorrhage and hypertension management — is strong enough that organizations implementing them with fidelity can demonstrate measurable outcome improvements within 12 to 18 months.
What an effective program includes
- 1
AIM safety bundle implementation — obstetric hemorrhage, hypertension, and cesarean birth bundles are the priority starting points
- 2
Maternal and neonatal event reporting template capturing adverse events, near-misses, and bundle compliance deviations
- 3
L&D safety huddle system with structured daily check-in and case review
- 4
Simulation and drill program for obstetric emergencies — hemorrhage, shoulder dystocia, eclampsia — with documentation and debriefing
- 5
Bundle compliance metric tracking connected to quality dashboards and improvement review
- 6
Connection to state Perinatal Quality Collaborative for benchmarking and shared learning
Getting started
Join your state's Perinatal Quality Collaborative if not already enrolled — access to comparative data and implementation support accelerates program development
Implement the obstetric hemorrhage bundle first: it addresses the most common cause of preventable maternal mortality and has the strongest evidence base
Create a maternal safety event reporting template and brief L&D staff — including OBs, midwives, and nurses — on what constitutes a reportable event
Establish a standing L&D safety huddle — 10–15 minutes, daily, structured — and document participation and issues raised
Begin tracking hemorrhage bundle compliance metrics within 30 days of implementation
How ImprovementFlow supports this program
Configurable event templates capture maternal and neonatal safety events with the clinical detail fields that perinatal case review requires
Bundle compliance tracking connects clinical documentation to quality metrics, making it visible when bundle elements are missed
L&D huddle boards provide the real-time clinical awareness infrastructure that supports daily safety communication
Drill and simulation documentation captures what was practiced, what gaps were identified, and what follow-up actions were assigned
Improvement project module connects bundle compliance gaps and event analysis findings to formal improvement initiatives with tracked outcomes
Start your program with the right infrastructure
Most customers begin with safety reporting or huddle boards and expand from there. No enterprise commitment required.