SDSU begins first BIRTH-SD program to improve perinatal health in South Dakota

South Dakota State University will begin a four-year program to improve perinatal health outcomes through the implementation of Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health patient safety bundles at hospitals and birthing centers across South Dakota.

Stephanie Hanson, principal investigator and a population health instructor at SDSU, and her team were awarded an $800,000 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to complete the work.

The program is titled BIRTH-SD-AIM, which stands for Bridging Information and Resources to Transform Health for South Dakota parents – Assessing need and Implementing Maternal health safety bundles. BIRTH-SD-AIM is the first of a planned series of BIRTH-SD projects to improve maternal health outcomes in South Dakota.

“Maternal health across the United States is not in a good place right now,” said Hanson, pointing to the fact that maternal mortality rates across the nation are on the rise. 

Patient safety bundles

The primary objective of BIRTH-SD-AIM is to implement Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health patient safety bundles at hospitals and birthing centers in the state. Of the 19 hospitals and birthing centers in South Dakota, only seven currently utilize Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health programs.

According to Hanson, the Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health patient safety bundles are sets of quality improvement actions and metrics that are designed to improve perinatal care throughout the United States. Bundle implementation results in utilization of best practices that result in safer birth outcomes for parents.

Of the eight types of Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health patient safety bundles, BIRTH-SD-AIM will begin with the implementation of two. The first involves care for pregnant and postpartum people with substance use disorders, and the second focuses on perinatal mental health.

“The immediate needs of the population in the state of South Dakota were critically assessed when making the decision around which bundles to select,” Hanson said. She also noted that part of bundle selected involved capitalizing on the expertise and experience of SDSU faculty.

SDSU’s Community Practice Innovation Center, the home for the BIRTH-SD work, also houses the START-SD (Stigma, Treatment, Avoidance and Recovery in time for South Dakota) programs, which have worked on prevention, treatment and recovery for substance use disorder in South Dakota since 2019.

Three objectives

To complete the BIRTH-SD-AIM work, there are three primary objectives.

The first objective is to hire a community clinic specialist who will work with hospitals and birthing centers.

According to Hanson, the community clinic specialist will be the “boots on the ground” of the project, working closely with hospitals and birthing centers on implementing bundles and meeting objectives. This new position will address the need for an individual who is solely focused on Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health bundle implementation in South Dakota.

SDSU will seek to hire the community clinic specialist within the first four months of project work. An official listing will be posted shortly. Interested individuals with background in public health or relevant experience can reach out to Hanson via email.

The second objective of the program is the implementation of Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health bundles, with the goal of increasing the number of participating hospitals and birthing centers from 37% to 78%. 

To complete this work, SDSU has partnered with the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations and Sanford Health.

Tammy Hatting, COO for the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations, said they have chosen to partner with SDSU on BIRTH-SD-AIM because “it is a great opportunity to improve perinatal outcomes for South Dakota families and the surrounding region. We can accomplish so much more when we work in collaboration for the benefit of all.”

Sheri Fischer, executive director for the women’s and children’s hospital, clinics and community services at Sanford Health, said, “Sanford has chosen to partner with SDSU on BIRTH-SD-AIM because SDSU is a trusted partner that Sanford works with on an ongoing basis to improve the care that is provided to our patients. Together, SDSU and Sanford can continue their partnership and their efforts to improve care through the implementation of evidenced-based best care practices which are focused on improving perinatal health outcomes for mothers and their infants in South Dakota.”

The third and final objective of the BIRTH-SD-AIM work is to complete a North and South Dakota-wide survey of parents to inform the implementation of current and future Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health bundles and other work to improve perinatal health.

“With the Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health bundles, there are so many areas that can be chosen to focus on, and we want to hear directly from parents what gaps they identify as being problematic,” Hanson said.

Partnering with collaborative

On the BIRTH-SD-AIM work, SDSU has also partnered with the North and South Dakota Perinatal Quality Collaborative. The collaborative has been working to implement Alliance for Innovation and Maternal Health bundles and improve perinatal outcomes since 2018. Its work has been focused in North Dakota, making the partnership with BIRTH-SD-AIM important.

“BIRTH-SD-AIM is so important to the work of the North and South Dakota Perinatal Quality Collaborative, as we’ll have a dedicated and funded South Dakota-focused team,” said Andrew Williams, executive director for the collaborative.

The collaborative will play a key role in BIRTH-SD-AIM work, including working with the community clinic specialist on bundle implementation and on the development and dissemination of the Dakotas-wide survey. “BIRTH-SD-AIM’s success is the North and South Dakota Perinatal Quality Collaborative’s success and vice versa,” Williams added.

Hanson said that with this first of the BIRTH-SD programs, “We really want to utilize the knowledge of new parents to enhance the programming we offer to other new and expecting parents throughout the state.

“Currently we have plans to really dive into perinatal mental health in South Dakota through other developing programs being led by myself at SDSU.”

Hanson emphasized that a difference can be made by working directly with South Dakota parents and with organizations already doing important work to improve perinatal outcomes.

“It's going to take time, work and a whole lot of passion, but it absolutely can be done.”

The BIRTH-SD website will launch soon and will be accessible at the Community Practice Innovation Center.