Perinatal Quality Collaboratives
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About Perinatal Quality Collaboratives
State perinatal quality collaboratives (PQCs) are networks of perinatal care providers and public health professionals working to improve pregnancy outcomes for women and newborns by advancing evidence-based clinical practices and processes through continuous quality improvement. PQC members identify care processes that need to be improved and use the best available methods to make changes and improve outcomes. State PQCs include key leaders in private, public, and academic health care settings with expertise in evidence-based obstetric and neonatal care and quality improvement.
Many states currently have active collaboratives, and others are in development. Visit State Perinatal Quality Collaboratives to view a list of state PQCs.
CDC is currently providing support for state-based PQCs in the following states: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and Ohio. Funding will enhance the capabilities of PQCs to improve the quality of perinatal care in their states, including efforts to reduce maternal morbidity associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, improve the care for infants impacted by neonatal abstinence syndrome due to maternal substance abuse, improve the use of progesterone medication for reduction of preterm birth, and improve the accuracy and timeliness of birth certificate data.
National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives Launch
The launch of the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC) will be held on November 29 and 30 in Ft. Worth, Texas. The NNPQC, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the March of Dimes, supports the development and enhances the ability of both emerging and established state PQCs to make measurable improvements in maternal and infant health. The goal of the launch is to provide opportunities for the sharing of organizational and functional best practices between PQCs across the country, and to determine the support PQCs need from the national network. To find out more, visit marchofdimes.org/conferences.
Funding for this event was made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The views expressed in written event materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services or the March of Dimes, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices or organizations imply endorsement by the March of Dimes or the U.S. Government.
CDC Releases Resource Guide for Perinatal Quality Collaboratives
Developing and Sustaining Perinatal Quality Collaboratives - A Resource Guide for States [PDF - 556KB]
CDC recognizes the value that PQCs can bring to improving perinatal health and worked with experts to develop a resource guide to help develop and advance the work of state PQCs. Topics in the guide include starting a statewide collaborative, launching initiatives, data and measurement, sustainability, and more. This guide is an online resource that includes links to other useful resources for perinatal quality improvement work.
Download: Developing and Sustaining Perinatal Quality Collaboratives A Resource Guide for States [PDF - 556KB]
Success Stories
The Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative, New York State Perinatal Quality Collaborative, and California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative success stories detail the perinatal quality improvement work supported by CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health.
- The Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative (OPQC) Success Story [PDF - 187KB] discusses OPQC’s steps, accomplishments, and lessons learned in improving birth registry data, prematurity outcomes, and the number of babies born full-term.
- The New York State Perinatal Quality Collaborative (NYSPQC) Success Story [PDF - 364KB] outlines NYSPQC’s steps, strategies, and lessons learned in reducing scheduled cesarean sections (C-sections) and inductions without a medical indication from 36 up to 39 weeks of pregnancy.
- The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC) Success Story [PDF – 324 KB] discusses CMQCC’s partnerships, accomplishments, and lessons learned in building a data center, which helped hospitals to reduce severe maternal morbidity.
PQC Webinar Series
In partnership with CDC-funded collaboratives, the Division of Reproductive Health hosts regular Webinars that allow PQCs to share strategies related to their development as well as specific perinatal quality improvement initiatives. These Webinars are available to participants in all states. To receive updates about future Webinars, sign up for e-mail updates by entering your information in the box on this page entitled, “Get e-mail updates”. Recordings of previous Webinars are archived and available for viewing.
As of May 2014, you may receive free continuing education for watching the CDC - Perinatal Quality Collaboratives Webinars. All continuing education is issued online through the CDC/ATSDR Training & Continuing Education Online system.
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Learn More About PQCs
Public Health Grand Rounds
CDC’s Public Health Grand Rounds is a monthly webcast created to foster discussion on major public health issues. The November 2015 session, Public Health Strategies to Prevent Preterm Birth, discusses how concerted efforts to improve surveillance data, better medical care and prevention, and stronger public health partnerships, can accelerate progress in reducing preterm births and improving neonatal outcomes. View the archived presentation and Beyond the Data video.
CDC Expert Commentary on Medscape: Reducing the C-section Rate
Dr. Wanda Barfield, MD, MPH, Director of CDC's Division of Reproductive Health, highlights the CDC PQC project in this video about the need to keep the rate of cesarean section going in the right direction. View video.
Publication
The following article discusses CDC-supported perinatal quality improvement activities in California, New York, and Ohio. You may view the abstract for this article using the U.S. National Library of Medicine's PubMed service. Reference:Henderson ZT, Suchdev DB, Abe K, Johnston EO, Callaghan WM. Perinatal quality collaboratives: improving care for mothers and infants. J Womens Health. 2014;23(5):368-372.
- Page last reviewed: August 10, 2016
- Page last updated: August 10, 2016
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