AIM Obstetric Emergency
Readiness Resource Kit
Maternal Early Warning
System Implementation
Resource Kit
Community Birth Transfer
Resource Kit
Join our open office hours to connect directly with the AIM Data Team and TA Specialists. These sessions are designed to provide teams with personalized support and guidance—whether you have specific questions about AIM data collection and reporting, need help interpreting your data, or want to discuss broader programmatic needs.
Date and Time: August 21, 2025, at 1PM (EST)
Final Office Hours Session: August 29, 2025, at 1PM (EST)
Date & Time: August 7, 2025, from 1PM-2PM (EST)
Description: This session will provide an overview of AIM-developed REDCap projects. The session will cover key steps for importing the AIM REDCap project, navigating the customization features, and how to successfully export data entry for analysis
Session Recording: https://vimeo.com/1114294509
Date & Time: August 14, 2025, from 1PM-2PM (EST)
Description: This session will cover the AIM Data Center’s bulk export functionality in which the state team can download outcome, process, and structure measures data that have been submitted in the AIM Data Center. Using the downloaded data, state teams can create their own visualization for their internal analysis. This session will also include key AIM data resources to keep in mind as teams implement patient safety bundles.
Session Slide Deck: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/AIM-Data-Center-Refresher.pdf
Session Recording: https://vimeo.com/1114294612
Date & Time: August 28, 2025, from 1PM-2PM (EST)
Description: Visualizing data is an important element of quality improvement as it helps stakeholders clearly understand patterns in quality of care and opportunities for improvement. This session will guide state teams on pre-built visualizations for the AIM Data Center that focus on collaborative-wide data as well as hospital-level data to allow collaboratives to quickly see where gains can be made.
Session Slide Deck: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/AIM-Tableau-Dashboard-Template-Visualizing-Your-AIM-Patient-Safety-Bundle.pdf
Session Recording: https://vimeo.com/1114294752
AIM Tableau Dashboard Templates & Associated Files: https://saferbirth.org/data/august-2025-transition-tableau-dashboard/
AIM Technical Assistance (TA) Center is excited host its first Obstetric (OB) Readiness Learning Sprint this summer. This five-part series will provide an overview of topics related to planning and assessment for OB readiness. Participants will gain insight on pre-hospital readiness planning, simulations for emergency staff, assessment practices, and engaging rural or resource-limited communities in OB readiness.
Each live session will offer 1 hour of continuing education credit through the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health.
Attendance at the event will be recorded on the virtual meeting platform and at least 60 minutes of participation and the completion of an evaluation for the session will be required to receive 1 credit hour.
Please see below for more details:
This activity is approved by the Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health for 1 continuing education contact hours, including 0 hours of pharmacology content. NPWH Activity Number 25-12-01
The Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, is accredited as a provider of continuing by the California State Board of Nursing, Provider Number CEP 13411
Attendance at the event will be recorded on the virtual meeting platform and at least 60 minutes of participation and the completion of an evaluation for the session will be required to receive 1 credit hour.
Speakers:
Learning objectives:
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
Date & Time: June 25, 2025, from 3:00 – 4:15pm ET
Recording Link: https://vimeo.com/showcase/11821707
Session Slides: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/Session-1_OB-Care-in-Rural-Environments-Master-Slide-Deck.pptx
This activity is approved by the Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health for 1 continuing education contact hours, including 0 hours of pharmacology content. NPWH Activity Number 25-12-02
The Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, is accredited as a provider of continuing by the California State Board of Nursing, Provider Number CEP 13411
Attendance at the event will be recorded on the virtual meeting platform and at least 60 minutes of participation and the completion of an evaluation for the session will be required to receive 1 credit hour.
Speakers:
Learning objectives:
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
Date & Time: July 9, 2025, from 3:00 – 4:15pm ET
Recording Link: https://vimeo.com/showcase/11821707
Session Slides: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/Session-2_Planning-and-Assessment-for-OB-Emergency-Readiness-Master-Slide-Deck.pptx
This activity is approved by the Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health for 1 continuing education contact hours, including 0 hours of pharmacology content. NPWH Activity Number 25-12-03
The Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, is accredited as a provider of continuing by the California State Board of Nursing, Provider Number CEP 13411
Attendance at the event will be recorded on the virtual meeting platform and at least 60 minutes of participation and the completion of an evaluation for the session will be required to receive 1 credit hour.
Speakers:
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
Date & Time: July 23, 2025, from 3:00 – 4:15pm ET
Recording Link: https://vimeo.com/showcase/11821707
Session Slides: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/OB-Readiness-Learning-Sprint-Session-3-Pre-Hospital-Emergency-Care-Master-Deck.pptx
This activity is approved by the Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health for 1 continuing education contact hours, including 0 hours of pharmacology content. NPWH Activity Number 25-12-04
The Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, is accredited as a provider of continuing by the California State Board of Nursing, Provider Number CEP 13411
Attendance at the event will be recorded on the virtual meeting platform and at least 60 minutes of participation and the completion of an evaluation for the session will be required to receive 1 credit hour.
Speakers:
Learning objectives:
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
Date & Time: August 6, 2025, from 3:00 – 4:15pm ET
This activity is approved by the Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health for 1 continuing education contact hour, including 0 hours of pharmacology content. NPWH Activity Number 25-12-05.
The Continuing Education Approval Program of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, is accredited as a provider of continuing by the California State Board of Nursing, Provider Number CEP 13411
Attendance at the event will be recorded on the virtual meeting platform and at least 60 minutes of participation and the completion of an evaluation for the session will be required to receive 1 credit hour.
Speakers:
Learning objectives:
At the end of this webinar participants will be able to:
Date & Time: August 13, 2025, from 3:00 – 4:15pm ET
Andrea Augustine has been a sexual and reproductive health educator, administrator, and advocate for 10+ years. She holds an MPH in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University and a BA in International Relations from Tufts University. Currently based in the Greater Metropolitan Washington area, her career spans across multiple sectors as well global and local settings. Andrea is also a near-miss mom, who survived an obstetric hemorrhage in 2022. Her personal and professional experiences serve as her motivation to advance reproductive justice wherever possible.
CheyAnne has been practicing nursing for ten years beginning in adult inpatient trauma services with the majority of her career spent in Women’s Healthcare. She practiced as an L&D nurse for 8 years, moving from the bedside to simultaneously serving as the Women’s Health Educator, Clinical Coordinator, Maternal Program Manager, and Interim Director of Women’s and Children’s. She now serves as the Director of Clinical Excellence and Operations at Titus Regional Medical Center taking the quality work she implemented in the women’s service line to other service lines within the organization. She received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing and Masters of Science in Nursing Education at The University of Texas at Tyler and is currently board certified in Inpatient Obstetrics as well as Obstetric and Neonatal Quality and Safety. She serves as a Maternal Level of Care Surveyor for ACOG, TexasAIM faculty member for Sepsis Initiative and in past for the Hypertension initiative, and has spoke on behalf of maternal best care practices on a number of platforms.
Silke Akerson, MPH, CPM is the executive director of the Oregon Perinatal Collaborative, a consultant, and a midwife. Her work is focused on quality improvement and policy change in maternal and infant health, advocacy for increased access to midwifery care, and professional development for community birth midwives. She is a leader in quality improvement in community birth and consults with state and national organizations working in this area. She leads the Community Birth Transfer Partnership, a statewide transfer improvement initiative in Oregon. She had a home birth practice for 23 years and is now enjoying life off-call.
Melissa has a BA in Biology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of Florida. Her master’s thesis documented the historical development of direct-entry midwifery in Florida and was published in Robbie Davis-Floyd’s book, Mainstreaming Midwives: The Politics of Change (2006). After graduate school, Melissa attended the Seattle Midwifery School and was licensed as a midwife in Washington state in 2004. From 2006 to 2021 Melissa worked as a community midwife in a home birth-based private practice. In 2016, she became the Program Coordinator for the Smooth Transitions Quality Improvement program and worked to build bridges between community midwives and the hospitals with which they interact. From 2024 to the present, Melissa shifted into a Co-Chair role at Smooth Transitions where she brings both experience and a strong commitment to developing positive relationships between community midwives and their local hospitals at both state and national levels.
Kerrie Redmond is the Perinatal Quality Improvement Advisor for the Louisiana Department of Health’s Bureau of Family Health, Perinatal Quality Collaborative (LaPQC). In that role, she works closely with Louisiana state birthing hospitals as they use quality improvement to test and implement new processes, use data for improvement and provide equitable, dignified and evidenced-based care to birthing persons and their infants. Prior to joining the LaPQC, Kerrie was a nursing director of a level III obstetric and neonatal birthing facility. For 28 years, her primary nursing clinical and leadership experience has been in obstetrics/gynecology, postpartum, newborn care and emergency services.
Dr. Elizabeth Lynch is an Emergency Medicine Physician practicing in rural New Mexico and Arizona at various Indian Health Service hospitals while also completing a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Lynch’s career is guided by a strong commitment to improving women’s healthcare across all medical settings, in particular the Emergency Department and the ICU. Prior to pursuing medical education, Dr. Lynch worked as a doula and researcher at Planned Parenthood. Collaborating with ACOG and AIM is an exciting new opportunity for Dr. Lynch, and she looks forward to developing novel resources together.
Skyler Young has worked in business and software development for over 10 years. Most recently, he cofounded Connect 211, an Open Source search engine that helps connect communities to the resources they need. This is a tight collaboration between 211 call centers and other non-profits or agencies that can use 211s’ high quality data for their own audience.
Renée Byfield, MS, RN, FNP, C-EFM is the Program Director of the SPEAK UP Implicit and Explicit Racial Bias Education for the Institute for Perinatal Quality Improvement (PQI). Renée Byfield helps to advance PQI’s mission by expanding the use of quality improvement science to eliminate preventable perinatal morbidity and mortality and end perinatal disparities. Ms. Byfield is dedicated to pursuing health equity and teaching professionals to disrupt, dismantle, and eradicate racism. Specializing in obstetric and newborn care, Ms. Byfield has diverse experience in nursing leadership, education, perinatal patient safety and quality improvement in hospital, academia, and ambulatory settings. In 2018, she received recognition for nursing excellence from the March of Dimes among other distinctions in her field. Ms. Byfield holds a Master’s in Science degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Pace University. She is the CEO and developer of her own natural skin care line named after her children, Selah Knoelle Body Butters.
Debra Bingham, DrPH, RN, FAAN is the Chief Executive Officer for the Institute for Perinatal Quality Improvement (PQI), perinatal consultant, and a retired Associate Professor of Healthcare Quality and Safety from the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON). Bingham is working to expand the utilization of implementation science and improvement science theories, frameworks, methods and tools in an effort to eliminate preventable perinatal morbidity and mortality and eliminate perinatal racial disparities. Prior to founding PQI and working at UMSON Bingham was the first executive director of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC). She then went on to become a Vice President at the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN). At PQI, Bingham developed, co-authored, and launched the SPEAK UP Against Racism Action Pathway. Bingham also provides consultation to various types of organizations. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and toolkits. She and her husband are the proud parents of four children, 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Dr. Kay Daniels is a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is the Director of the OB simulation program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford Medical Center, which trains obstetrical teams in management of obstetrical emergencies. Dr. Daniels served as the past chair of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology National Simulation Working Group 2010-2012 and received the 2009 Henry J Kaiser Outstanding and Innovative Contributions for Medical Education for her work in the field of simulation technique. In 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, the Stanford OB simulation team explored how to convert in person simulation to online “telesimulation” courses and are presently performing a study to evaluate the effects of this innovative training technique.
LaShea has been practicing in the area of obstetrical/perinatal nursing for nearly 26 years. Her clinical and educational experience and expertise span labor/delivery, antepartum and mother/baby areas. LaShea has worked as a board-certified clinical nurse specialist for women’s services at a large healthcare system, she was a nursing instructor and a previous perinatal outreach educator. These roles allowed her the ability to provide continual high-risk perinatal education to various hospitals and to reach audiences across her region. This has led to her current role and success as founder and owner of her own nursing mentoring and education consulting company Perinatal Potpourri. She is also a Designated Instructor Trainer in Fetal Monitoring and Obstetric Patient Safety through AWHONN. LaShea holds two certifications through NCC and currently provides in-services and seminars nationally for Inpatient OB and EFM reviews, respectively. In addition to being an active AWHONN member, Lashea was recently elected as the Vice Chair of the AWHONN Section Advisory Committee. She was appointed to this position because of her activism and success as the 2-term elected Georgia section chair. LaShea was appointed as the lead for Georgia in the AWHONN Postpartum Hemorrhage & Empowering Women projects. She was selected as the lead facilitator in the state of Georgia to assist with the rising rate of maternal deaths because she has successfully moved her region to become more active with lectures, networking, and current trends. LaShea’s expertise in this area is demonstrated in her most recent honor, AWHONN’s highest honor the Distinguished Professional Service Award Winner of 2022 and The Award of Excellence in Education, respectively. It’s also noteworthy to mention she has won the March of Dimes 2018 Georgia Nurse of the Year Award and the 2015 AWHONN Award of Excellence in Community Service. She is an energetic speaker, whose goal is to fully engage the audience in her presentations, leaving them excited and ready to learn more.
Dr. Goffman is currently the Vice Chair for Quality and Patient Safety and Ellen Jacobson Levine and Eugene Jacobson Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University and the Associate Chief Quality Officer for Obstetrics for the New York-Presbyterian health system. She was recently appointed the Associate Dean for Professionalism for Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She has a strong interest in improving patient safety and quality in obstetrics and decreasing severe maternal morbidity and mortality. Much of her work has focused on the use of simulation, team training and implementation of evidence-based guidelines to achieve this goal.
Lisa Nathan recently joined Columbia University’s Department of OBYGN as an Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and the Chief of Obstetrics, Sloane Hospital for Women, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She completed her OBGYN residency training at Montefiore/Einstein and stayed on to work for several years as an academic generalist. During this time, she founded the Global Women’s Health Program for the Department with grant support from the Einstein Global Health Center and the US Fulbright African Regional Research Program. Dr Nathan also founded Einstein’s Departmental Health Equity Task Force. The goal of this task force was to create a Departmental culture and workforce that understands the concepts of health disparities and structural racism, recognizes the ways in which society and the health system promote them, and works proactively to dismantle them. In addition to her clinical and administrative duties, Dr Nathan is also active within ACOG, where she is a member of the Safe Motherhood Initiative Steering Committee. She was the Chair of the Maternal Sepsis Bundle workgroup and is a current member of the Health Equity Subcommittee. She also serves as a consultant to the New York City Department of Health, where she serves as the Co-Chair of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee. In this role, she reviews events leading to maternal mortality for the majority of cases occurring in New York City. These reviews form the basis for the development of recommendations for city and state level initiatives to combat the root causes of the high maternal mortality rates in New York City.
As a result of a personal experience with a near fatal medical event many years ago, Linda identified the need for support services in cases of adverse medical events and outlined an agenda for change. For more than twenty years, she has been encouraging organizations to tackle the challenges that impair effective communication, apology, and support programs for patients, families, and clinicians following medical errors and unanticipated outcomes. Linda serves as a patient representative on numerous task forces and is on the board of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors.
Michele Kulhanek is currently the system Perinatal Safety Officer for PeaceHealth. Michele came to PeaceHealth in May from Washington State Hospital Association where she was the Director of Safety & Quality for Maternal-Infant Health. She was responsible for creating, leading, implementing and achieving results to improve outcomes for Washington state’s birthing hospitals. She is passionate about quality improvement in perinatal care, birthing people, newborns, families, and the providers who care for this population. As an experienced labor and delivery nurse, Michele has worked both at the bedside and in leadership in a variety of settings, from a community hospital to a high risk obstetrical academic medical center. She maintains certification in quality and safety, as well as in-patient obstetrics and electronic fetal monitoring. Michele has experience as an obstetrical and neonatal clinical instructor for a BSN program and she is also a fetal monitoring instructor.
Mindy Wara is the owner of Mindy Wara Studio, where she offers brand development; marketing strategy; and social media management services alongside her creative works. Marrying her love of storytelling, art, education, and advocacy, Mindy primarily works with perinatal and reproductive health organizations to define their stories, showcase their impact, and build digital communities. A few of the organizations Mindy has served include: The Touchstone Institute, Minnesota Perinatal Quality Collaborative (MNPQC), Wisconsin Perinatal Quality Collaborative (WisPQC), Wisconsin Association for Perinatal Care, the Perinatal Foundation, Shades of You, Shades of Me; NARAL Pro-Choice America; and the National Organization for Women. Her accomplishments include founding the Artist-Mama Collective, being nominated for the ATHENA Leadership Award, exhibiting at the Parallel Artist-Mother Art Show, and raising a curious and kind son with her husband. Mindy’s dedication to amplifying perinatal health work is rooted in her own experiences with perinatal mental health challenges as the mother to a now thriving NICU graduate.
Jess Bacon, MSN, CNM is a certified nurse-midwife practicing in New Hampshire. She received her BSN in 2000 and her MSN at Frontier Nursing University in 2012. She is expected to complete her DNP at Frontier in 2024. She has a strong interest in substance use disorder and is an advocate for removing barriers to treatment. Jess splits her time between a community hospital where she focuses on Perinatal Optimization and OB Simulation and a residential facility for pregnant and postpartum people with substance use disorder. She is the President of the NH Affiliate of ACNM, a member of the steering committee for the Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network (NNEPQIN), and co-chair of NNEPQINs Perinatal Community Advisory Council.
Dr. Perkins-Howland is the medical director for perinatal optimization and simulation at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover New Hampshire. Dr. Perkins-Howland completed her medical education and residency at the University of Illinois, where she delivered the first triplets at Good Samaritan Hospital. She is involved in the New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network, sitting on their planning committee and often times speaking at their conferences. Dr. Perkins is also engaged with the New Hampshire MMRC and the Mass General-Brigham Clinical Community Committee. Outside of works, Dr. Perkins-Howland is involved in marathon running, and has completed over 50 marathons in five countries!
Dr. Jay Naliboff came to Maine in 1982 after Medical School at UCSD, OB/Gyn residency at SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY, and two years in the Indian Health Service in Claremore Oklahoma. He practiced at Franklin Memorial Hospital for thirty-five years as an OB/Gyn, the last three years as Chief Medical Officer. He was active in ACOG, serving as Maine Section Treasurer, Vice Chair, and Chair, and a founding member of the Maine Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Mortality Review Panel. He also chaired the Maine Medical Assessment Foundation OB/Gyn Study Group. He and his wife Jane, a writer and photographer, raised three daughters and currently live in Chesterville. He is currently on the Executive Committee of the Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative for Maine (PQC4ME) when he’s not fly fishing or playing in his rock band.
Nell received her certificate in Midwifery from State University of New York (SUNY Downstate) and her MS in Midwifery from Philadelphia University. A Certified Nurse-Midwife since 1986, Nell has been actively involved in women’s health care as a labor and birth nurse, a nurse-midwife, a midwifery educator and author, and a maternal child health consultant in public health. Nell is committed to using the Quality Improvement Process to enhance perinatal health equity and quality in every health care setting. Her passion is bridging the gap between clinical practice and emerging evidence. With a focus on improving health care, Nell believes we must first acknowledge the harmful effects of systemic racism and bias, and then actively work to create communities and health care systems where people can thrive. Nell is currently adjunct faculty at Rutgers University and is lead editor and the original author of the award-winning text Clinical Practice Guidelines for Midwifery & Women’s Health.
Hannah Newton has worked in the Resource Center at King County 211 in Seattle since 2005 and has been the Department Manager since 2017. She additionally coordinates resource data and statewide data projects for Washington 211. She is certified as a Database Curator by the Alliance of Information & Referral Systems.
Dr. Patricia D. Suplee PhD, RNC-OB, FAAN is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University, School of Nursing-Camden. As a seasoned researcher, scholar, and educator, Dr. Suplee’s career has focused on improving maternal child health outcomes and translating evidence into clinical practice especially during the postpartum period. Her collaborative work as CO-PI on AWHONN’s Empowering Women to Obtain Needed Care project led to the development of Post-Birth educational tools that have received national attention. The POST-BIRTH Warning Signs educational tool has been incorporated into postpartum discharge teaching throughout the U.S. and has been cited as an exemplar by the CDC, HRSA, and the Joint Commission. In a follow-up project supported by Merck for Mothers and AWHONN and completed in 2022, she has continued this important work. Dr. Suplee was an appointed member to three interdisciplinary national committees responsible for the development of three AIMS Patient Safety Bundles currently used as best postpartum care practice models. In addition, she was an appointed member of the HHS Office of Minority Health, Think Cultural Health team to advise the development of an e-learning program for physicians, nurses, and health care providers about culturally and linguistically appropriate services in maternal health care. She is currently Chair of NJ AWHONN, is a member of the NJ Maternal Care Quality Collaborative and NJ Maternal Mortality Review team that analyzes cases, identifies gaps in care, and makes recommendations to decrease maternal mortality rates. Dr. Suplee publishes and presents nationally, is a reviewer for several journals, and has mentored numerous faculty colleagues, clinicians, and students over the last three decades.
Dr. Stephanie Radke is a board-certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Iowa. She is a native Iowan and graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California Davis Medical Center. She was in community private practice in Sacramento, California, for 3 years prior to returning to the University of Iowa to join the faculty in 2016. Her professional interests include promoting better maternal health outcomes and advancing health equity via quality improvement collaboratives. She is funded on a Maternal Health Innovation award held by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and directs the Iowa Maternal Quality Care Collaborative and Iowa AIM Program.
Jackie Ewuoso manages the Betsy Lehman Center’s peer support programs and other patient safety initiatives. She has several years of experience in community health addressing social determinants of health and working in chronic disease prevention. Before coming to the Betsy Lehman Center, Jackie was a public health prevention specialist at the Worcester Division of Public Health and the Central Massachusetts Public Health Alliance. In this position, she managed community health grants aimed at addressing chronic diseases by increasing access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity. She coordinated projects and initiatives focused on policy, systems and environmental change as a way to increase healthy eating and active living in the city of Worcester and six surrounding towns. Jackie holds a Master in Public Health from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Colleen Reilly is the President and CEO of The Reilly Group (TRG), a public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. She has more than twenty-five years of experience in communications, public affairs, and health. Having worked in senior positions in government, non-profit organizations, media, and the private sector, she uses this multi-dimensional experience to develop and implement collective impact initiatives and programs with the TRG team that have resulted in developing policy, building partnerships and collaborations, increasing capacity, expanding education, and achieving quality improvement. Ms. Reilly is the architect of and serves as the lead for the Mind the Gap National Initiative to ensure maternal and maternal mental health are national priorities. The Initiative includes a coalition of 30+ national organization partners and state policy teams working together to improve health access and outcomes. Ms. Reilly is a recognized expert on maternal, women’s and mental health issues and has worked with groups, coalitions, and teams at the community, state and national level. Prior to founding The Reilly Group, Ms. Reilly served in senior positions at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service Office of Women’s Health, Health Resources and Services Administration, and the National Mental Health Association.
Emily Chew, MPH is the Senior Advisor for Women’s Health and Gender Research at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Office of Extramural Research, Education and Priority Populations (OEREP). Prior to joining OEREP, Emily served as a Health Scientist Administrator at AHRQ in the Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, leading PSNet and women’s health patient safety initiatives; as well as the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau. Emily’s background is in women’s health, public health, community health, and HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Catherine Albright is an associate professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle. Her clinical and research interests are in high-risk maternal care, especially related to sepsis in pregnancy as well as cardio- obstetrics. She developed and validated the Sepsis in Obstetrics Score, the first disease-severity score developed and validated in pregnancy. She co-directs the UW Cardio-OB program and has multiple ongoing research projects related to this patient population. She currently is involved in the Washington State Maternal Mortality Review Panel as well as local and regional perinatal quality efforts. She has been especially focused on ensuring that UW has a robust maternal early warning system for early recognition of maternal decompensation.
Dr. Elliott Main founded and directed the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative for 16 years to 2023 and served as the Chair of the California Maternal Mortality Review Committee during those years. Dr. Main is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University and currently leads two NIH grants supporting large-scale maternal QI projects. He has served or chaired national committees on Maternal Quality Measurement for ACOG, the AMA, The Joint Commission, Leap Frog and CMS. He has authored over 150 articles on maternal mortality, improving obstetric outcomes, obstetric quality measures and perinatal collaboratives. Nationally, Dr. Main is the Director for Quality improvement Implementation for AIM. In 2013, Dr. Main received the ACOG Distinguished Service Award for his work in quality improvement.
Dr. Kelly Gibson is the Division Director for Maternal Fetal Medicine and the Associate Director of Obstetric Informatics at The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio and an Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Gibson is a member of the SMFM Board of Directors. She is a founding member and past chair of the Clinical Informatics Committee and member of the Patient Safety and Quality Committee for SMFM. She is the current principal investigator for the NICHD Eunice Kennedy Shriver Maternal Fetal Medicine Research Network for the Case site. Dr. Gibson is a clinical advisor for the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM) Hypertension Project and is a member of the Ohio Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Board. Her research and clinical focus are on clinical quality, implementation of safety bundles, and large clinical trials.
Lauren Arrington is an Assistant Professor in the Doctor of Nursing Practice and Nurse-Midwifery/Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Programs at the Georgetown University School of Nursing. She is a commissioner for the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education and an associate editor for the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health. Dr. Arrington co-leads the Maryland Maternal Health Innovation Program’s Maternal Health Equity Toolkit and Community of Learning and developed the 5D Cycle for Health Equity to facilitate community-engaged quality improvement. Dr. Arrington practices midwifery at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. Her work focuses on operationalizing health equity in maternal health and beyond.
Grace Lim Bio: Dr. Lim is a board-certified obstetric (OB) anesthesiologist and physician scientist who is passionate about eliminating pain and suffering in special populations, optimizing perioperative medication use, and creating innovative and personalized approaches to care. She accomplishes these goals using a mix of clinical and translational approaches. Her methods focus on individualized and population-based approaches to gain a holistic understanding of a health problem from both a population and personalized perspective.
Dr. Lim’s clinical practice and research work are dedicated to improving pain management and post-birth recovery by identifying safe and effective therapies. These efforts include the widespread implementation of enhanced recovery after cesarean protocols, nitrous oxide labor analgesia, hemorrhage bundles, and postpartum analgesia bundles across UPMC maternity hospitals.
Sarah David Carrigan, MPH, is a Health Communications Specialist in the Division of Reproductive Health (DRH) within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She currently serves as the Hear Her campaign lead, overseeing strategy and implementation of the multi-segment campaign that works toward improving maternal health outcomes by raising awareness of the urgent maternal warning signs and improving communication between healthcare providers and patients. Sarah has worked in public health program management and communications across a range of health topics at the CDC, including HIV/AIDS, antimicrobial resistance, and Zika. Prior to her work at CDC, Sarah worked with Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, GA, Boston University, the Ruel Foundation, and the Ugandan American Partnership Organization on economic development and public health programs. Sarah has an MPH in International Health program design and management. She has a passion for health equity, public health problem solving, and good food. Sarah is based in Atlanta, GA, where she lives with her chef husband, 3-year old son, and two mischievous dogs.
Jennifer McKeever is a creative, relationship-oriented leader with over 20 years of experience advancing programs and policy that promote health and wellbeing as a human right. As a natural coach, convener, and community-builder, she specializes in creating teams, systems, and processes to successfully implement large-scale public health initiatives. Having worked at local, state, and national non-profits and government organizations, Jennifer brings her knowledge and expertise to work with The Reilly Group in building partnerships, policy and advocacy coalitions, and social impact initiatives. As Director of Policy and Advocacy Networks, Jennifer is working with the team on Mind the Gap, which aims to turn the tide on the crisis of undiagnosed and untreated perinatal mental health conditions in America.
Allison Kight brings her expertise and dedication to promoting the health and wellbeing of others in her role as Manager of Social Impact Projects for The Reilly Group. With years of experience working with federal and state governments, and professional, advocacy, and community organizations, she is a talented coalition builder and excels at forging connections between a wide range of partners. Her specialties include collective impact work and removing barriers to care and treatment through unified action with a wide range of stakeholders. Allison has helped state organizations achieve their health policy goals through coaching, facilitation, and expertise.
Dr. Moore Simas is the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Professor of Ob/Gyn, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Population & Quantitative Health Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School/UMassMemorial Health. Dr. Moore Simas is an academic specialist in general Ob/Gyn, physician-scientist, educator, advocate, and leader. She is the founding Obstetric Engagement Liaison of the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP) for Moms, a first in nation state-wide program that enhances the capacity of obstetric care clinicians to address perinatal mental health and substance use disorders. Dr. Moore Simas is obstetric director of Lifeline for Moms, a program founded to provide technical assistance for others developing Perinatal Psychiatry Access Programs, like MCPAP for Moms, and as a research home to further advance innovations in integrating obstetric and mental health care. She serves her profession nationally as the Society of Academic Specialists in General Ob/Gyn’s (SASGOG) President Elect, on ACOG’s Maternal Mental Health Expert Work Group (Co-Chair) and Clinical Practice Guidelines OB Committee, and as an American Board of Ob/Gyn (ABOG) oral examiner. She has served on the Alliance in Innovation in Maternal Health’s (AIM) Perinatal Mental Health Conditions (PMHC) and Postpartum Discharge Transitions (PPDT) Safety Bundle Work Groups, developed the PMHC Change Package with the Institute of Healthcare Innovations (IHI) as lead faculty, and will be leading her state’s perinatal quality collaborative (PQC) in implementing the AIM PMHC bundle.
Dr. Byatt is a perinatal psychiatrist and physician-scientist focused on improving systems of care to promote the mental health of parents and children. Her passion for her work is deeply rooted in her experiences as a clinician, researcher, daughter, and mother. She is a Professor with Tenure of Psychiatry, Ob/Gyn, and Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School. She developed the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP) for Moms. MCPAP for Moms is a statewide program that has 1) increased access to mental health care for thousands of perinatal individuals 2) become a national model for perinatal mental health care, and 3) impacted state and national policies and funding. She is the Founding Executive Director of the Lifeline for Families Center and Lifeline for Moms Program at UMass Chan Medical School.
Tiffany Messerall, a board-certified women’s health nurse practitioner, is the Evidence-Based Practice Lead for OhioHealth in Columbus, Ohio, and a current postdoctoral fellow at The Ohio State University. Dr. Messerall holds a Bachelor of Science in zoology and a Master of Science in neuroendocrinology from Miami University. She earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing, a Master of Science in nursing with a specialty in women’s health, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice in women’s health from the University of South Alabama. Dr. Messerall served as the organizational lead for implementation of the AIM Severe Hypertension in Pregnancy patient safety bundle. She has been actively involved with the AIM National Team on the development of the AIM Sepsis in Obstetrical Care Patient Safety Bundle and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Sepsis in OB Change Package. Dr. Messerall serves in leadership roles for several national organizations. In 2022, Tiffany was nominated to the inaugural cohort of AIM Clinical Champions.
Dr. Alison Haddock is a board-certified emergency physician and tenured Associate Professor at Baylor College of Medicine with appointments in the Department of Emergency Medicine, the Department of Education, Innovation and Technology, and the Center for Ethics and Health Policy. She was recently elected President-Elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians and will serve as President starting in October 2024. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Duke University and MD from Cornell Medical College, and completed her emergency medicine residency at the University of Michigan. She served as the emergency medicine/ACEP representative to the ACOG Pregnancy & Heart Disease Presidential Task Force and subsequently as co-chair of the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) Patient Safety Bundle: Cardiac Conditions in Obstetrical Care.
Dr. Amber Weiseth, DNP, MSN, RNC-OB is a Research Scientist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Director for the Delivery Decisions Initiative (DDI) at Ariadne Labs. In this role, she leads a research and advocacy portfolio focused on improving dignity and safety in childbirth and reducing racial and ethnic disparities. Amber has been an obstetric nurse for 20 years, specializing in maternal-child health, quality improvement, and systems innovation. Prior to joining Ariadne Labs, Amber served as Assistant Director for Maternal-Infant Health Initiatives at the Washington State Hospital Association where she led safety and quality improvement in the state’s birthing hospitals.
Barbara O’Brien is the Director of the Oklahoma Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative (OPQIC). Her work with OPQIC supports achieving a vision of a culture of safety, excellence, and equity in perinatal care in Oklahoma. This is achieved through public-private partnerships to implement best practices for the care of women and infants using quality improvement science.
Shanell (she/her) has an Associate’s in Pre-Nursing from Pierce College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Seattle University. Immediately after obtaining her BSN, she decided to take the public health route and work for Tacoma Pierce County Health Department. Shanell gained experience in Maternal Child Health as a Health Promotion Coordinator and then a Nurse Home Visitor for the Black Infant Health program for three years. Shanell is currently a graduate student at the University of Washington Bothell to obtain her Master’s in Nursing, tailoring her courses to public health. She is passionate about public health, social justice, and health equity. Shanell is committed to working to reduce maternal child health disparities and advocate for BIPOC. Shanell enjoys singing, video games, traveling, and trying new restaurants.
AIM Technical Assistance (TA) Center is excited host its first Sustainability Community of Learning (COL) for its participating states, jurisdictions, and hospital teams. The focus of this COL is to offer expert guidance on sustaining and maintaining quality improvement initiatives, including AIM patient safety bundles. By fostering a collaborative environment and knowledge-sharing, this COL aims to provide participants with actionable strategies, tools, and best practices to ensure long-term impact and drive continuous improvement to achieve meaningful outcomes.
In this session, participants will explore the foundations of planning and sustaining Patient Safety Bundle (PSB) initiatives to ensure lasting improvements in care quality. We’ll define what it means to “sustain” QI initiatives, highlighting essential elements that contribute to long-term success. We’ll also look at practical ways to help hospital teams overcome challenges, ensuring consistent care and promoting ongoing improvement.
Date & Time: March 21, 2025, from 3:00PM-4:30PM (EST)
Recording Link: https://vimeo.com/1086846932
Session Slides: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/Master_SlideDeck_PlanningForQIWithSustainabilityInMind-2.pdf
In this session, participants will learn approaches to optimize stakeholder support for sustaining PSB initiatives. We will learn who should be engaged from hospital & leadership teams and strategies for gaining buy-in. We will also explore best practices to communicate about the rationale for sustaining PSB projects and the roles/responsibilities of those who will be involved in sustainability.
Date & Time: April 16, 2025, from 1:00PM-2:30PM (EST)
Recording Link: https://vimeo.com/1086846313
Session Slides: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/Master_SlideDeck_Sustainability-Champions_Engaging-Stakeholders-in-Sustainability-Success-3.pdf
In this session, participants will explore considerations for maintaining ongoing staff training and communication. We will review important elements of supporting staff through change and sustainment of gains, including regular meetings, continued education, and onboarding education for new staff. We will also strategies for maintaining staff motivation for PSB sustainment.
Date & Time: May 21, 2025, from 2:00PM – 3:30PM (EST)
Recording Link: https://vimeo.com/1086842804
Session Slides: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/Maintaining-Changes-in-Practice-and-Processes-through-Staff-Support-Training-and-Collaboration.pdf
In this session, participants will discuss considerations and responsive strategies for responding to policy or guideline changes that may affect clinical care delivery. We will also cover best practices for communicating new changes and their impacts on PSB project sustainability.
Date & Time: June 20, 2025, from 2:00PM-3:30PM (EST)
Recording Link: https://vimeo.com/1098506518
Session Slides: https://saferbirth.org/wp content/uploads/MasterSlideDeck_Sustaining_the_Gains_Amidst_Change_in_Policy_and_the_Healthcare_Landscape-2.pdf
In this session, participants will explore how to manage and allocate resources for sustainability such as personnel, funding, data systems, and training materials. We will cover resource identification, scaling, and responsiveness to resource shortages. We will also discuss contingency plans for shifts in resources such as changes in funding and obstetric unit closures.
Date & Time: July 17, 2025, from 1:00PM – 2:30PM (EST)
Recording Link: https://vimeo.com/1102316058
Session Slides: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/Session5_Strategic_Resource_Management_Ensuring_Sustainability_in_Healthcare_Implementation-1.pdf
In this session, participants will discuss principles of data management & analysis for PSB sustainability. We will learn about selecting priority measures for continued collection in the sustainability period, strategies for tracking ongoing sustainment of PSB elements, and processes for responding to shifting data trends. We will also discuss processes for reporting data back to hospital teams and engaging in collaborative learning.
Date & Time: August 20, 2025, from 1:00PM – 2:30PM (EST)
Recording Link: https://vimeo.com/1111788860
Session Slides: https://saferbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/Session6_Data_Driven_Strategies_for_Monitoring_Sustainability.pdf
A fever is especially worrisome if you also have:
A fever may be a warning sign of other problems, such as: