PC-01

Patients with elective vaginal deliveries or elective cesarean births at >= 37 and < 39 weeks of gestation completed.

Rationale: For almost 3 decades, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have had in place a standard requiring 39 completed weeks gestation prior to ELECTIVE delivery, either vaginal or operative (ACOG, 2021). A survey conducted in 2007 of almost 20,000 births in HCA hospitals throughout the U.S. carried out in conjunction with the March of Dimes at the request of ACOG revealed that almost 1/3 of all babies delivered in the United States are electively delivered with 5% of all deliveries in the U.S. delivered in a manner violating ACOG/AAP guidelines. Most of these are for convenience, and result in significant short term neonatal morbidity (neonatal intensive care unit admission rates of 13- 21%) (Clark et al., 2009).

Type Of Measure: Process

Improvement Noted As: Decrease in the rate.

Numerator: Patients with elective deliveries.

Denominator: Patients delivering newborns with >= 37 and <39 weeks of gestation completed.