Smooth Transitions™ is a Washington state-based quality improvement program enhancing the safety of these hospital transfers.
We bring together community midwives, hospital providers and staff, and EMS personnel to build a collaborative model of care that puts birthing families at the center.
We offer presentations throughout Washington state and provide direct support to participating hospitals. We are also available to consult with perinatal collaboratives and organizations in other states interested in replicating this work.
If you like the work that is being done and would like to make a donation to the Smooth Transition program, click on the button below.
Mission: To address our shared responsibility for improving hospital transfers from planned community-based births to promote greater patient safety and satisfaction.
Goals:
*Smooth Transitions considers “whole person safety” to encompass emotional, psychological, social, cultural, spiritual, and physical processes and outcomes.
Best Practice Guidelines: Transfer from Planned Home Birth to Hospital
“Like most hospitals, we have struggled with how best to accommodate patients who have planned an out-of-hospital birth under the care of a midwife but are transferred in during labor or postpartum. With the help of the Smooth Transitions team, we have significantly changed the attitudes and the experience of these transfers. The tools available through the Smooth Transitions™ playbook have guided us along this process, and I strongly recommend this program to any hospital that wants to improve the transfer experience for all involved.”
Roger Rowles MD, Former Medical Director of Perinatal Services, Virginia Mason Memorial Hospital, Yakima, WA