A collaborative of more than 30 Nebraska hospitals is focusing on reducing complications and death following childbirth and a baby’s first month of life.
It’s called the Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative. The doctors and hospitals involved are focused on three areas, including fewer first-time cesarean section births before 39 weeks, and increasing the number of new moms who breastfeed.
An estimated 2,752 babies were born prematurely in Nebraska in 2013. Dr. Ann Anderson Berry, co-medical director of the collaborative, says it brings together all of the state's health systems to focus on the best outcomes for moms and babies.
Dr. Anderson Berry is medical director of Nebraska Medicine’s neonatal intensive care unit. The collaborative also wants more newborns screened for an infection called congenital cytomegalovirus. Babies can contract it before birth and be very ill when they're born.
A law passed by Nebraska lawmakers earlier this year created the Collaborative, which is funded for two years. 43 states have a similar program.